It was many years ago. I was a young dad sitting on the couch reading a fairy tale to my little girl. She sat next to me with her head on my arm as I told the tale. When it came to the end I finished with those famous words: "And they lived happily ever after." As I looked over to her with her wavy¹, brown hair and big, innocent eyes I could see the smile on her face and I never wanted it to end. It dawned on me then that the ending of the book was what I wanted for her. I wanted her to "live happily ever after."

很多年前我还是个年轻的爸爸，坐在沙发上给小女儿讲童话故事。她坐在我身边，头枕在我胳膊上听我讲故事。故事的最后我用那句经典的话作结束语：“从此他们过上了幸福的生活。”我看着她，她有着卷曲的棕色头发和大大的、天真的眼睛，我能从她的脸上看到微笑，我希望能永远这样看着她。那时我明白了故事的结尾也是我对她的期望，我希望她“从此过上幸福的生活。”

Still, deep in my heart I knew that this couldn't always be so. I knew that there would be times when her heart was broken. I knew there would be times when she cried in grief and I couldn't comfort her. I knew there would be times when all she felt was fear, sadness, sorrow, and despair. As I stroked her hair and smiled at her I hoped that those times would be brief and that she would have joy in her life more often than not. Living happily ever after, though, seemed out of the question.

然而内心深处我知道现实并非总能如我所愿。我知道有时她会伤心；我知道有时她会伤心地哭泣，而我却不能给她安慰；我知道有时她只会感到恐惧、伤心、懊悔和绝望。我抚摸着她的头发，对她微笑，我希望那些时刻都能很快过去，希望她的生活中更多的是快乐，然而，从此过上幸福生活似乎是不可能的。

It took me a lot of years to realize that it IS possible to live happily ever after. You just have to do it "one day at a time." Happiness you see isn't some reward that you get at the end of your journey. Happiness isn't something dependent on what life hands you. Happiness is something you create in your life choice by choice and day by day.

很多年以后我才意识到从此过上幸福生活是可以实现的。你只需要“认真过好每一天”。你看到的幸福并非你人生旅程最终的奖励，幸福不是取决于生活赐予你什么，而是你日复一日通过一个个选择在生活中创造出来的。

The truth is happiness comes when you love. Love is a gift from God. It is love that mends broken hearts. It is love that heals grief. It is love that gives us joy. Choose to "live happily ever after, one day at a time."

事实是幸福就是付出爱时的体验，爱是上帝恩赐的礼物。只有爱才能修复受伤的心灵；只有爱才能抚平伤痛；只有爱才能给我们带来快乐。选择“从此过上幸福的生活，过好每一天。”