The Pursuit of Happiness

Or as Stan Freburg used to say in his July 4th, holiday special, "the purfuit of happiness."

Sorry, you have to be over 50 or a geek like me to get that one.

Anyway, I'm back from Carolina. And as I sat on the parking lot better known as I-95 South this morning on the way to work I had an epiphany about happiness: mine is contingent on me being comfortable in my surroundings - nothing more, nothing less.

You may think that's a given, just like those cliches we all tend to attach to happiness like family, pets, etc.

But happiness never has been an easy concept for me to grasp. I've always done like a shady politician who attaches $100 million for playground construction onto a bill intended to finance body armor for troops. I've added things like more money and unreachable goals like perfection to my happiness parameters.

And not to sound sappy, but while breathing that cool crisp air and strolling around with my dog, and my wife, and my mother (she drove down from VA to visit with us in NC for a couple of days), it hit me that I felt stress free. Seriously, my stomach was not bound in those knots that often come with suppressing my road rage in Miami. I didn't have that headache that comes from drinking excess coffee in an attempt to keep myself wired. I wasn't worried about anything...which is not the same as not having anything to worry about. But I was just happy with the folks around me and the space around me. And that was all I needed.

OK, enough of this flower-sniffing hippie nonsense. I have an article to finish. I'll chat w/you guys this evening.