John Lennon on happiness

John Lennon would have turned 73 yesterday, and while I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across an amazing round-up of quotes from everyone’s favorite introspective Beatle. One in particular, though, stood out…

“When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment; I told them they didn’t understand life.”

It’s so simple, yet says so much. And with the rough week we’ve had, this quote rings especially true for me. Sometimes, it seems like happiness is this fantastical, unattainable thing that only exists in the movies. Real life just seems too messy sometimes, and that’s true — life is messy and complicated and just downright confusing sometimes. So, the more complicated things get with my sister (and believe me, thins are quite complicated right now…), the more I’m finding myself just craving that simple happiness.

Because, really, isn’t that what all people want in the end? To be happy. Plain and simple. No strings attached. No conditions. Just pure happiness.

How do you capture that simple happiness in your life, friends?

P.S. Lennon’s handwritten to-do list and more Beatles love.

[Photos of John Lennon via PARADE]