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.

Tags: Happiness observations
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Happiness in a bottle?

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Ok so I’m not a chick so I’m not up on fragrances. But I thought it was notable when I discovered that Clinique, the cosmetic company has a whole line of products called “Happy”.

Don’t believe me? Here ya’ go.

I read somewhere that this was Clinique’s best selling fragrance.

I get the same effect everytime I leave and return to my home because I planted rose bushes on both sides of the steps leading up to my door.

Can you really get happiness in a bottle?

Tags: Happiness observations
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It’s hard work being unhappy

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

I have a co-worker that has chosen to ignore me like I’m not there. It’s pretty hard work to do that.

I don’t have the makeup to ignore or not be nice to people. I can step up being mean I’ll tell you but it’s a drag to work around this fellow.

I’ve noticed that some individuals need to have someone to focus negative energy on.

In this fellow’s case, he used to focus negative energy on another competing staff member. Now it seems that I’m his chosen foil.

This type of behavior doesn’t contribute to the team’s happiness, in fact it’s a drag.

I have to go out of my way not to say anything when we cross paths. I normally smile and make eye contact. With this guy though, I’m going out of my way just to not bother.

Ever say “Hi” to someone and have them just stare at you and not acknowledge you in any way?

I’m not going to spend time trying to fix him. I’m going to try and spend time telling myself it’s ok to not supply my hi wattage smile to those who don’t want to be uplifted with a simple human interaction. It’s a shame but I must figure this out to make my own self feel less conflicted over someone else’s problem.

Have you ever had this problem? How did you solve it?

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Americans are easily entertained

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

This weekend we went to DeSoto Caverns in Alpine, Alabama which is a natural cave attraction near our campsite just outside of Talladega.

They’ve built  a mini amusement park outside the caverns and turned it into a micro version of a major theme park.

They have some paddle boats, a horizontal rock wall, a squirt gun maze and you can pan for gems in thier sluice among other amusements.

My question is as this relates to happiness overall, is all we need to generate more happiness in our life a few more visits to a minature golf place?

If happiness is the objective, what does shooting bows and arrows at targets or throwing water balloons at your brother actually do inside your brain to make one feel better?

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What’s the goal?

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

In acheiving an increased level of happiness, what exactly is the objective?

If I am happy after eating one [fill in your favorite brand of cookie here] cookie, how ‘come if I were to eat 20 of them I’d feel major league sick?

Is a happiness goal the same?

Do I want to be happy all the time?

Or is happiness best in contrast with unhappiness, boredom or a general work distraction?

What’s your happiness goal?

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