The Thrill of Living

Here you are - just in time. As someone who has been chronically unhappy, my present mid-life crisis threatens to send me lemming style off the cliff of married with two kids and a hybrid car. Facing down her own mid-life meltdown, a friend bought a bike. "I didn't want to blow-up my life," she said.

I don't want to blow up my life. I just want to hate it less. Since I don't understand how a bike prevents catastrophic life failure, I can't buy a bike. I did read somewhere that keeping track of the small things in each day that make you happy can actually make you feel happier. I understand the logic, by keeping track of happy events, you emphasize those events over others and you train your mind to look for and record happy-making things. I love logic and so, eschewing the bike, I intend to try being happier by being more cognizant of the things that make me happy. For each of the next 30 days, I will record 5 separate things that made me happy and keep track of my overall happiness level.


Day One:
(Happy Meter at an Unusual Low of 3 out of 10 (1 being cliff-diving time).)

Trader Joes. Trader Joe's makes me happy. No doubt about it. I like the isles of food that don't have anything partially hydrogenated. I like the meat that actually looks edible. I like the beer bread mix and the green t-shirts that the cool TJ's employees wear.

James's sunglasses. I stole a very cool pair of motorcycle cop sunglasses from my friend James. I can't even imagine myself trying them on, but now that I have them, I can hardly take them off. Thanks to this excellent accessory, the opposition lawyer didn't even recognize me in the line for court. Thanks James.

White Trash Hip-Hop. I drove to court listening to my Pandora Rehab radio station. It plays every manner of white trash hip-hop from the obvious Eminem to the less obvious but terrific Fort Minor. I am a girl who loves eating macaroni and cheese with hot dogs, but I can't stand country music. White trash hip-hop is a secret society of people just like me.

Sparkling water. I drink no less than 2 liters of Diet Coke a day. I want to drink more, a lot more. Sparking water gets me by.

My wallet. I wanted to add something about my husband and my kids, but I don't think this can work if I'm not honest and - honestly - those particular areas of my life are not making me happy right now. My wallet, however, which is red and black and a gift from my sister, is. When I take it out to pay, I actually imagine that people are coveting my wallet and trying to read its classy, little label.