The wisdom here cuts against our most natural instinct—we assume happiness follows from collecting: the right partner, the right house, the right job title. But Einstein points to something subtler: goals demand *your* participation, your growth, your daily choosing, whereas people and possessions can be lost through no fault of your own. A mother who anchors her joy to her child's presence will shatter when that child moves across the country; a mother who ties it to the ongoing goal of raising a thoughtful human being finds purpose even in empty rooms. The distinction separates happiness from the anxiety of holding on.