Knowing When You Have it Good?

Here’s the take for today:

.5 | This was half yesterday and half today, so I’m putting it at .5. It’s called “Perfectimundo,” and it occurs when I have clean sheets, clean jammies, and clean me, all in the same bed together. Bliss!

1 | I got to stay in my pj’s until about one p.m. today.

2 | I had the chance to laugh with my sister today. She’s funny. We don’t have the same sense of humor, but we do. I know that sounds weird, but we can pretty much always make each other laugh. We also accomplished a lot today, and that made her happy.

3 | My car has this feature where the volume on the cd player comes up slowly when you first start the ignition, so you don’t pee your pants when you forget you were jamming out last time you were in the car.  Also, singing out loud in the car. Big happy payload on that.

4 | The weather here today has turned out gloriously. It is a perfect temperature and the sunlight is beautiful.

5 | Commercials! I only have Netflix for t.v., so when I get to watch commercials after having not seen them for a long time, I’m just gobsmacked. Matt and I went out for dinner, and we sat at the bar. I couldn’t even hear the commercials but I was still agog. Like this one for Toshiba that has zombies in it? What is up with that!?! Hilarious!

6 | The Last Supper. You know the one. The meal right before the day where you’re starting your new diet Lifelong Maintainable New Way of Eating!!! !! !

It’s one of the few times when I’m not dieting engaging in my Lifelong Maintainable New Way of Eating that I can indulge and not feel guilty. Not even a little bit.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One of my student workers bought me a gift. It was a magnetic to do list, with a picture of a 1950s woman smiling. The caption says “Happy? If by happy, you mean trapped with no means of escape, then yes. I’m happy.”

I was reminded of that quote when I was thinking about today’s post. Although the jokey caption is kind of snarky, it begs the question: “What qualifies as happy?” Is it indulgence in a favorite pastime, like reading or watching t.v.? Or is that just an escape? When I’m upset, I listen to podcasts and play solitaire to get away from my thoughts. I wouldn’t say it makes me happy, but it keeps unhappiness at bay. Is mitigating unhappiness the same as being happy?

What about stuff like cleaning? Although I didn’t “enjoy” cleaning my basement and putting away all Matt’s tools, I did get a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It enabled him to work on a bunch of projects he would otherwise not have been able to. Is ‘satisfied with a job well done’ happy? And if so, boy howdy, I sure could get super-happy all over my kitchen floor.

How about being nice to somebody you really, really don’t like? Even though the experience is probably painful, getting to the end of it and thinking, “I handled that well,” can be satisfying. But does that qualify as happy? Are being happy and being nice the same thing? I don’t think so, but they have to be related.

I guess I’ll just have to decide as I go along. What about you? What, for you, counts as happiness? Does it depend on all the stars aligning and everything being perfect? Or can you string together the intermittent pearls of life’s simple pleasures and create a necklace to hang over your heart?