Story book lives

You know when we were kids, and we all dreamed of what it would be like to be grown up/have a job/be married/have a house? Do you remember what it looked like? I don't remember exactly what my story-book life looked like, but I know it involved being married, having kids, having lots of animals, and living in a nice house with a nice yard and a fence around it for the dogs. Hell, forget childhood. I wanted that yesterday. But I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what exactly I want and what I need to be happy, and I've discovered that the story-book life doesn't exist. No amount of perfection, of things falling into place for me exactly as they should will make me happy. I think that's a large part of my problem. There was always something else to fall into place, and as soon as it did I would be happy. But it never happened. All the pieces never fall into place. And even if they do it doesn't guarantee happiness. I was depending on something happening to make me happy. But I've discovered recently that happiness isn't built on fulfillment. I will never reach that point of fulfillment in my life where I feel like I've achieved everything I set out to do. And so it doesn't make sense to base my happiness on something so elusive. My life is far from story-book. I'm not even sure there's a happily ever after for me and Mark. There might be. It's too early to tell. Story-book princesses don't look like me. They don't talk like me. They don't act like me. But I'm here, and I'm learning to be happy even though my life is far from where I thought it would be.

So here's my question to you. What was your story-book life, and how does that affect your daily routine now? Are you aspiring to live that life or have you forsaken it for your reality?