Airene,

I realized after spending 19 years in a marriage that really was not a good match, I left.  I never was happier afterwards.  My children were 8 and 12 at the time.  I felt that I was modeling how to be unhappy for them rather than teaching them otherwise.

I look at how I live my life as if I was going to die tomorrow.  Will I have regrets?  On my death bed, did I think I wasted my life? Did I live in fear of what could have been?  All I got is today, this moment.  Am I doing what I need to do with my life to make it meaningful?

The Dalai Lama was attributed in saying that the meaning of life is to be happy.

Mark