It’s Sunday morning, and I’m just so happy. I haven’t won the lottery, and I’m never content with my personal financial balance sheet. I have not eliminated work stress, and there are piles of impatient client files around me. The world feels increasingly chaotic, angry, and dangerous. And yet, I feel content and gratified.
I’ve felt happy for a long time. I remember the moment when I acknowledged that optimism was central to my personality. It was about 15 years ago, and I had to develop a security phrase for a financial website. The phrase I immediately came up with was, “the sun is shining.” But it was not a sunny day; it was cloudy. I had a moment of clarity when I realized that the sunshine was coming from within.
It hasn’t always been that way. I endured adolescent angst and young-adult full-blown depression. My 30’s were full of incessant demands and an over-arching belief that I wasn’t good enough at anything. Raising rambunctious boys, maintaining a household, volunteering, and climbing the professional lawyer ladder obviated the ability to reflect on whether I was happy. Joyful moments abounded, for sure, but the busyness of my life eclipsed my capacity to reflect on it.
That changed when I started exercising regularly. Not only did exercise elevate my mood and stimulate feel-good endorphins, it mandated that I break away from the perpetual agenda of things I thought I wasn’t doing well enough. Physical activity proved to be the ultimate form of self-care. Pounding footsteps abolished uncertainty, deep breathing eliminated anxiety, and a heightened awareness of the outdoors fomented a belief that I was strong and capable. Forgiveness for my perceived inadequacies was always just a sweaty half-hour away.
I often tout the virtue of a daily exercise habit as it eliminates workout planning and internal cajoling and shaming. But today I’m wondering if happiness isn’t a habit as well. I believe that comforting routines combine to create contentment: waking up, petting an enthusiastic pup, hugging my patient husband, working out, enjoying a hot shower, and eating a delicious but healthy breakfast. The happiness formula is simple but reliable. Who needs anything else?
Now, if I could just accumulate a fortune, ditch unrealistic clients, and solve the dog hair problem in my car, I would be euphoric, not merely happy!