Happiness is...

When I think about happiness, I imagine Snoopy doing his unbridled happy dance, although it's almost as charming when Schroder shames him into stopping.

Happiness has to be one of the most elusive things out there. Kind of like bigfoot. Yet for some crazy reason it is written into the Constitution that we have the right to pursue it. So it must be a worthwhile goal, right?

I'm going to guess a formula for happiness might be:

Happiness  = basic needs are met + good health + free time to do what we want

Basic needs being met and good health are clear enough. It would be harder to be happy if you were homeless, hungry or on a respirator, although not impossible. The last one is perhaps less obvious. Parents of young children such as myself seem to have it all, yet so few of us are happy because of that free time part of the equation. Our time is almost never our own. Then we feel guilty for not appreciating what we have. So the cycle goes.

Buddha had a very different approach to finding happiness. He said we should look at the root cause of our suffering. This makes him sound like a pessimist, but his point was that only in understanding why we are not happy do we stand a chance at finding happiness. Now that sounds like one of those Zen koans that are impossible to answer, but there is sense to this. If you look at what is bothering you straight on, maybe you can make it stop, or at least see it clearly enough to realize it's not so bad after all.

What's my point? I may not have one. Today, an acquaintance was lamenting not being able to do it all as a mom. Her passion is writing, but she feels guilty for not being there every moment for her children. I say let them eat frooty pebbles sometimes and skip the guilt. Not even Oprah has it all, as she openly admits. So let's all cut ourselves some slack and find joy in the little things, like the smell of Fall in the air today. It's kind of making me feel like doing a happy dance.