All I had to do was be myself.

I often ask unhappy people what they'd do to change their lives -- if only they could. Things that would make them less unhappy. And if they are honest, they come up with at least one or two measures. And more often than not, their wishes are plausible. Achievable. But they don't get around to taking positive action. Makes me think they choose to be unhappy. Maybe it's an inbred lethargy. Laziness. An unwillingness to do what's necessary to become reasonably happy. Maybe it's too hard. Too difficult. I decided years ago that I would become a romantic idealist. Because that would make me even happier than I already was. I started by defining romantic idealism. And then I tried to live by that credo. To do romantic things. That's why I'm living in Sardinia. With my true love. I suspect I was a romantic idealist even before I consciously decided to become one. So it wasn't all that difficult. All I had to do was be my natural self. --Jim Broede