Book excerpt: Throughout her lifetime, Anthea DeVito has found happiness to be elusive, just like butterflies that are beautiful when we find them, but challenging to hold onto for forever. In an inspiring narrative, DeVito chronicles her search for happiness, meaning, and a purpose in her life as well as the amazing number of tragedies, traumas, and physical hardships she has endured in the process. As she leads others through her varied experiences, DeVito also documents the world’s most significant events over the past sixty years and how they impacted her life as she spent her childhood in Penang, trained to be a nurse and then beauty therapist, owned a shop, navigated through romantic relationships and family dynamics, and experienced many adventures that included falling in a river full of crocodiles and traveling the world. The Elusive Butterfly of Happiness is an inspiring story of survival against all odds as a woman reveals how she overcame seemingly overwhelming challenges to find her purpose.