Here are some Keys to Happiness, according to Pope Francis.....

Photo courtesy of Reuters

"To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become the author of your own fate. It's walking through deserts but being able to find an oasis deep in the soul. It is thanking God every morning for the miracle of life. It’s kissing your children, cuddling your parents, having poetic moments with your friends, even when they hurt us.

Being happy is letting the creature that lives in each of us live, free, joyful, and simple. You have the maturity to be able to say: "I've made mistakes". It's having the courage to say I'm sorry. It's having the sense to say, 'I need you'. It is having the ability to say, 'I love you'.

May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness....that in spring you may be a lover of joy and in winter a lover of wisdom.

And when you make a mistake, start over. Because only then will you be in love with life. You'll discover that being happy isn't having a perfect life. But use tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your defeats to train your patience." ~ Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church (10/31/22)