"Someday"

Oftentimes we place our hope for happiness in the future. We live on "somedays" that parts of us know may never come true.

I know I do.

In high school, I yearned for college. Now that I'm in college, I year for freedom. I keep on thinking the next step up will bring me happiness. "Oh, once I go away to school, THEN I'll be happy. Oh, once I graduate and get a job, THEN I'll be happy. Oh, once I get married and make a family, THEN I'll be happy." Truth is, if you are constantly unhappy with your current situation, your future will be just as miserable, if not more so.

Lucy is a lot like this. She longed to be somewhere far from home and her wish was granted. She thought that this change would bring her happiness, but it didn't. She continued to think about her family, her home, and all her personal problems that had followed her. She then begins to dream of that "someday" when she would live on her own and do things she wanted to do. At the end of the novel, she is living this new life but still unhappy with herself. The book even ends with her crying. She is unsatisfied with her life because, I think, she has too high of expectations and is unable to adjust. Lucy's stubborness is the only thing holding her back.

This is no way to live. In order to be happy in the future, we must make the best of the present. I think Dave Matthews sums this all up very well: "the future is no place to place your better days."