This is the title of the last chapter of Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees. In it, Silvia is so overjoyed by her family gathering that she feels covetous of the time and knows that, like all really good times, it will come to an end too quickly. She decides to keep this time with her by planting it firmly in her memory while letting go of the bad family memories.

As the famous cognitive therapist, David Burns espouses in his classic book, Feeling Good, one’s level of happiness is correlated with how one perceives his reality. Likewise, happiness is also related to how one remembers her reality. So, you can chose to remember the good times and “leave the bad ones by the side of the road” as Silvia did because as Cosmo acknowledged in Discovery of an Eagle, we all have the power to make this life as rocky or as smooth as we want it to be!

 

This post is from my blog series, “Fiction Books about Happiness.” The theme of happiness runs throughout all of my novels, including Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Discovery of an Eagle, and The Bird that Sang in Color. These books are available from all major online book sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.