Your Personal Path to Happiness

The bright and cheery message of a song made famous by actress and singer Doris Day many years ago is “whatever will be will be.” The song was central to the plot of Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much, and its lyrics tell the story of a little girl who asks her mother if she will be pretty or rich when she grows up. To each question the mother replies, “que sera sera, whatever will be will be.” It became a big hit, won many awards, and is often considered Day’s signature song.

That message is quite a contrast to today’s world, in which parents set up goal lists for their kids to encourage them to plan their lives from cradle to grave. If you want to be pretty, then you work on changing your appearance. Let’s get you to lose some weight, restyle your hair, and maybe even pencil in a nose job on your to-do list, says Mom. And if you want to be rich, then let’s start working at age five so we can get you into Harvard or Wharton, so that by the time you’re 21 you’ll be on the road to a high-salary job with lots of perks.

So modern parents understand that their kids can achieve goals only if they take action to make those dreams come true: wishing on a star won’t work. Despite the message of her famous