You can choose the destination without following someone else’s itinerary for how to enjoy it.

Maybe freedom isn’t having nothing you have to do. Maybe it’s having the freedom to choose what’s worth doing.

I thought I was following Grandma’s recipe. Turns out, she left out a few things you apparently only learn by doing—like letting the cake cool before the frosting melts right off. Somewhere between the failed attempts, the baby who refuses to sleep memories, and finally getting that chocolate log right, I was reminded that life is meant to be lived, not just read about on a page.

What if a satisfying, meaningful life is simpler than we make it? Lately, I keep coming back to three things: love, freedom and peace—and learning not to let life’s inevitable little irritations distract me from how good the bigger picture really is.

Thirty-plus years of marriage and we still have very different ideas about what needs to be kept track of. Fortunately, most of the time, it really is fine.

Having the freedom to choose how we spend our time doesn’t always mean knowing what we want to do with it.

Do I actually want this—or do I think I’m supposed to want it? Sometimes seeing someone else’s version of a rich, fulfilling life can make us question our own. The difference between longing and pressure can tell us a lot about what we truly want.