Issue # 119 | May 15th 2026 | Previous issues​

Hey Reader,

When was the last time happiness paid you a visit?

What form did it come in?

How did you welcome it?

Most people search for happiness as if it were buried treasure. As if life hands you a secret map, and once you decode it, you find untold wealth and happiness buried under the giant X.

Oh, how I wish!

Treasure hunting is intriguing. The lure of mystery and adventure excites the imagination. And having treasure in the bank doesn't hurt either 🤣.

But guess who traverses sand and sea in search of hidden treasure?

Yep, pirates. 🏴‍☠️

When was the last time you chummed around with a pirate? Movies make them seem glamorous and devastatingly handsome (hello, Johnny Depp).

But pirates weren't the type of people you'd usually invite over for dinner or make business plans with. Why?

They were thieves. Often violent. They looked out for their own personal gain. They weren't exactly trying to better the world.

We don't want to be like pirates—chasing, demanding, interrogating, plundering life for proof that happiness is out there somewhere—if only we search long and hard enough for it.

Happiness is more like a guest than a hidden treasure.

You don’t need a secret map to find it.
You don’t need to dig it up with a rusty shovel.
You don’t need to seize it at sword point (although that sounds fun🤺).
You don’t demand its credentials at the door.

You welcome it.

Of course, happiness can be practiced and cultivated. But sometimes it also just shows up at the door with an overnight bag and no explanation.

If you're like me, you tend to treat that visitor with suspicion.

Maybe because happiness can feel hard to come by.

Maybe because there's lots of fake gold out there masquerading as treasure.

Maybe your default mindset tends toward the negative. Life gives plenty of reasons to feel that way.

Maybe most of the time you're simply trying to survive, so bits of joy feel like distant flickering stars—there, but slightly out of reach.

And then, on some random morning, for no good reason, you wake up energized and happy.

That's what happened to me yesterday.

But instead of simply receiving it, my mind began interrogating it:

Where did you come from?​
​How long are you staying?​
​What does this mean?​
​What do you want from me?​
​Are you a trick?​
​Will you leave if I relax?​
​Should I be using you productively?

Instead of conducting an interrogation, I should have said, "Oh. You’re here. Come in. I’ll put the kettle on."

Now, that's more like it!

If you make the tea, set the table with goodies, and happiness arrives...the last thing you want to do is interrogate it!

Happiness is a gift we allow ourselves to receive even when everything in the world says otherwise.

Here's a beautiful reminder that this gift comes from God:

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13: “There is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good during their life, also that everyone should eat and drink and find enjoyment for all his hard work. It is the gift of God.”

Imagine that.

We're allowed to receive happiness in the simple things of life.

Maybe this is part of what people mean when they talk about living in the present.

Maybe happiness grows when we stop examining it under fluorescent lights and start expressing it instead.

Write about it.

Sing about it.

Dance with it.

Share it.

Send a little of it someone else’s way.

Maybe happiness doesn't arrive in your life with fireworks or theatrical displays. Maybe it comes as a quiet morning. With a good cup of tea or coffee.

A song you forgot you loved.

A clean corner of the kitchen.

A text from someone who thought about you.

A few minutes when no one needed anything from you.

Maybe it came so simply you almost missed it.

Our work is noticing the happiness already there before us—simple and pure—and practicing how to receive it.

Trust that it's meant for you, too.

So here’s my question:

When happiness pays you a little visit, do you make room for it—or make it explain itself first?

With love and happiness,

Anna

P.S. Do not interrogate happiness. Ask it what tea it likes and put the kettle on.

​aferalhousewife.com​