Archive for the ‘Catching myself happy’ Category

Foot massager creates happiness

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

I’m strongly considering this foot massager for my wife’s upcoming birthday. We tested it in Brookstone today but she wouldn’t let me buy it for her right then and there.

It’s $499 so it ain’t cheap but WOW did it feel good. I don’t usually have any interest in massages, genuine or through various machinery.

Here’s the link. I read 12 reviews on their site and 11 of 12 were 4’s and 5’s out of a possible 5.

Evidently, happiness can be found in mechanical devices.

I can’t wait to get this for my wife. If not her birthday, then probably Christmas. It’s very expensive but since she’s been asking for it or something like it for several years now, I think it’s time.

When I finally pull the trigger and give this to her, I expect to get more pleasure out watching her enjoy it than she will when she uses it.

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Babies in the mall

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

I am sitting in a mall waiting for my wife after visiting an Apple store for service. I’m with my three sons, my youngest is 11 months and asleep in his stroller. Across from me is a new Dad holding and feeding his first child who after talking with him I found out is 1 month old. Just now a lady rolled up with a twin stroller with 2-9 week old twins. At 43 I’m much older than these parents. It’s beyond cute seeing other people interact with their kids.

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How to get a quick dose of happiness without meds, alcohol, or guilt

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

I went to the gym this morning in my Jeep with the top down. It was 62 degrees so that was quite a brisk ride.

It was still mostly dark when I left. The nearly full moon was still lighting up the sky and I could see clouds and the silhouettes of trees on the hillsides adjacent to my route.

I’ve always wanted a convertible and I now have one. I still smile every time I run with the top down.

Why is that?

It must be a combination of things.

One, I only go through the motions of manually removing the top on really nice days. There is no button on a Jeep, it’s kind of a project. It’s best if I can do it on Friday afternoon and put it back up on Sunday evening so the whole weekend should be nice weather. So one of my observations is that the feeling of experiencing comfortable outdoor weather firsthand makes me happy.

Second, I like having the vertical views that I get when the top is down. How silly is that? When you’re driving a car, who cares if you can see a helicopter, clouds, the upper portion of a larger vehicle next to you in traffic, stars, clouds or the sun? But I do.

It may have something to do with seeing something novel. Perhaps if I drove in a convertible every day it may not be so darn entertaining to me.

Perhaps there is so much stimuli from the wind and the noise that there isn’t any bandwidth for the brain to contemplate heavier topics so the pleasure comes in part from relief of mental burden.

As I write this it’s the beginning of Fall in Atlanta, Georgia where I live. I expect a good number of days with the top down in the next 60 days.

If you’re looking for a quick dose of happiness without meds, alcohol or guilt, I recommend you beg, borrow or steal yourself a ride in a convertible ASAP.

You may have a friend that owns one. Invite that person to a meal at a restaurant. Tell them you’ll buy if they drive and will put the top down for the ride to the restaurant and back.

Some of the car rental places rent them. Look them up on the Internet and go get yourself one for a day.

I’m not fully certain why convertibles bring so much happiness. I don’t always need to know why something works in order to determine that it works. I’ve never seen anything but smiling faces on a driver or passengers in a convertible.

Go drop the top somewhere, somehow… right now.

I bet you’ll come back happier than when you left.

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Goobers

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

I read something today that people with kids lead happier lives.

This evening I was “being interviewed” by my 10 year old son as homework. He was to interview Linda and I individually about voting. I was explaining why we vote and in which elections in answering his specific questions.

He was understandably a bit overwhelmed by the subject and maybe bored, too.

Then he got to the word “gubernatorial”.

Once I helped him pronounce the word, he leaned forward, he looked at me and his eyes got big and he said…

“Did you say goober?”

He and I laughed for the next five minutes.

I guess these may be moments that teachers encounter every day, but to me, it was hilarious and special.

I don’t think my kid will ever look at politics as boring ever again.

And I think that whoever wrote the study that stated that people with kids lead happier lives may well be right.

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Highs and lows within the same day

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

I just got back inside from burying my 10 y/o son’s hamster in the backyard.

It was running around in its little ball one minute, dead the next.

It was just the latest example of a concept that I’ve been studying which is the fleeting nature of happiness.

The key question is, “How is happiness defined?”

Is happiness defined as the number of minutes during a day that one thinks happy thoughts? Are you supposed to run around with a goofy smile on your face? How about putting one of those yellow foam golf ball sized smiley faces on your car antenna? (I really don’t like those). Are the number of happy thought supposed to exceed the number of sad thoughts? Who has time to count this stuff?

Happiness exists on many levels and in multiple facets of one’s life at the same time. It comes and goes, sometimes within a very short period of time.

I was writing this article about happiness highs and lows within the same day when the hamster died.

Yesterday evening, my 10 y/o son had a whopper of a birthday celebration at a new local bowling alley and fun center. For 3.5 hours my son had a blast with his friends.

Right after that we had a funeral wake to go to for a family friend who lost their mother at age 80 something. At the wake, probably because we had never met the deceased, we actually had a fairly nice time visiting with our family friend’s extended family.

So there we were, with a deceased old lady laying in state in an open casket and we had a nice visit. But as an event to go to immediately following a 3.5 hour all out kid party pallooza, it was a weird succession of events.

My wife and I rent RV’s in Atlanta, Georgia. On Saturday morning we dropped off our camper in fine shape at a parking lot across from the Georgia Dome for the Alabama vs. Clemson college football game. We were happy to teach the tailgate rv renter how to use the RV and we were of course happy to make another rental sale. We always enjoy watching grown people embark upon an RV trip, even if it’s just tailgating.

On Sunday morning we picked up the RV and it looked like a bomb went off in it. Ok, not that bad perhaps but to us, with our newest RV in our fleet, we were “not happy”.

These are several examples in my life within about a 48 hour span. I’m certain that this is not a phenomena unique to me.

And the goal is to flex and just go with the flow and not be knocked completely down from the lows nor perhaps to be entirely giddy about the highs, either. Just seeing that this is what life brings us. And how we choose to experience the buffeting winds is a major factor in how much happiness we experience.

Happiness comes and goes. It’s an unbelievable factor in our daily lives and I want to master it.

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I’m unhappy that there is so much information about being happy I can’t get through it all.

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Have you noticed that the subject of happiness, the pursuit of happiness, the elusive nature of happiness, and the relationship of happiness to money is talked about so much, it’s difficult to digest?

Anyone else drowning in a  pool of information and opinions?

It’s ironically upsetting.

It’s like being shown a great big piece of chocolate cake through a glass window that you can’t get through

This is why I believe it’s necessary to have happiness classes.

I’m going to boil it down into quick lessons so that the subject of increasing your own happiness level becomes actionable. You will have some takeaways to improve your chances of having a good day.

Because as we all know, every day is a good day. If you’re able to read the Obit’s in the newspaper, you ain’t in ‘em. And that’s at the very least a better start than those folks in the newspaper, wouldn’t you say?

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Camping this weekend in Alabama

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

I just watched my two boys for several hours in the campground swimming pool. They make friends easily and have been actively involved in the pool’s pick-up volleyball game with boys and girls, kids and parents of all ages, colors, sizes and physical capabilities.

I watched my kids absorb the arrival of some big-mouthed kids (and Dad) who announced that they were in town for a little league tournament and that proud father announcing without being asked “These boys right here just won today. We’re from Mississippi and we beat Louisiana.” The Dad acted like Howard Cosell on Mountain Dew Code Red and the kids were even louder and more aggressive.

I watched my kids cope with this family inject mean-spiritedness into a friendly game. I watched that it didn’t get out of hand but I was more fascinated how they worked around the problem. The problem folks left, never knowing they were the spectacle of stupidity. The rest of the kids and everyone else in the pool immediately went back to their friendly game.

The fact that the Dad and kids that left had a good time too may be the subject of a different post. Something about how one man’s happiness is another man’s problem.

I caught myself smiling that my kids were able to keep their cool, keep perspective that it was a mere pickup game of volleyball and not get wrapped up in the escalation brought in by the other team. Not to say that my boys didn’t put a few hammered shots into the big-mouth boys and dad’s face.

I also pointed out to my middle son that the people here were from all different States across the country, for different reasons, from different economic backgrounds and cultures… but to take notice that everyone loves a swimming pool. The smiles were everywhere. I pointed out that some things in our society cross all barriers and a swimming pool is one of them I guess.

I watched my wife swim with our 8 month old in a little floating thing for babies. The little guy splashed and squealed and got splashed on and loved observing the volleyball action in the pool.

I watched my 12 y/o boy tell his favorite jokes and perform his favorite slight-of-hand tricks on the new audience.

So at the end of this evening, all three of my boys are tired. And I’m happy having provided an environment that they could enjoy.

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