Happiness Tip

I wondered about my worrywart cred when it occurred to me I’d written a recent post without a hint of worry in its content. This is especially notable given that it was titled What Do You Think About When You Are Not Thinking About Anything Else?”

worrywart baby

Capturing happiness

What is worry, after all, if not random thoughts of doom? I attribute my current untroubled thought stream to a tip I’d read in a comment on the New York Times article, “Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop” or maybe it was a comment on the more mundanely titled, “How to be Happy.”

Did I really become a complacent worrywart because of a Times reader’s tip? If so, how much effort must I devote to the New York Times’s comments sections to solve all my problems?

Before I saw the tip, immediately upon awakening, I would check in with myself to see if I felt happy enough. My metric changed over time: it’s forever since I lowered the happiness bar from eager to jump out of bed to just not wanting to stay in bed.

But I did more than check on my happiness quotient; I compared myself to others. At risk of confessing my lowbrow tendencies, I’ll share an example: Kathie Lee Gifford, who along with Hoda Kotb hosted the 4th hour of “Today” on NBC.

Granted KLG is some ten years younger than I am, and not someone I am particularly attracted to, but still, she wrote and directed a film in Scotland and wrote songs she produced in Nashville, seeming to be in both places at once while continuing to co-host “Today.”

Why then does it take me a whole week just to write a short blog post? I’d wonder and compare.

Getting to the point, I’m bursting to share my tip. Maybe I’ve been procrastinating here, because I’m worried it will be anti-climatic. Maybe you’ll say, “I knew that.” Now I’m thinking, I ought to come up with something better.

But I soldier on to post this, because the New York Times says, It’s Never Going to Be Perfect So Just Get it Done.

So here ya go—the tip: Stop asking yourself, Am I happy enough? That’s it!

How do you ward off troubling thoughts?

 

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