The Today Show is already on the TV. Today they have a segment on happiness. The point of the story is that a professor in California found that people assign happiness to life events like getting married, getting a promotion, or having children. This can make us happy, but not as long as we think. What makes you happy is appreciating what you have (i.e. sending thank-you cards and saying you're grateful for things), being positive, warmly greeting people when they come in or when they are leaving, just being tender with people, and (this one's weird) making your bed. Yep, making your bed. Supposedly, it helps us feel better by giving us control over something first thing in the morning.
Part of why I wanted to write about this is that I feel I have issues with being happy and many times I don't know why. I have a husband and kids that I love, great friends, and just finished a perfect semester. The things that make me unhappy are my job and my living situation. Don't get me wrong, even though I've had two consecutive semesters where I earned a 4.0, the school situation is not ideal either. I don't have my bachelor's yet even though I should by now. If I had continued school the first time, I would have graduated in 2010. It doesn't sound so bad until you consider that I'm only one year and a half in. I'm still a sophomore. Just saying....
As far as work goes, I've worked in retail for...hold on, let me think...nine years. Nearly a decade of selling people shit they don't need. Almost eight years have been spent at the same retailer. I've been a store manager, a regular shift supervisor, and the lowliest associate all at the same retailer. I'm just ready to do something else, but without a degree, I'm not qualified for most things. When I think about what I would do, I'm not sure. I love numbers, my motorcycle, photography, painting, teaching, and speaking Spanish. My dream job would be studying sea turtles in Costa Rica. I know it's not impossible, but I've got two young kids and a working proficiency in Spanish (not to mention the degree issue). I know I just need to be patient while I finish up school, but it's so hard. I'm still brainstorming what else I could do to earn money besides the same retail job I've had forever.
Now, the living situation. I haven't had a house since the first time I was married and even then, it wasn't my house. It was my husband's that he inherited from his dad when he passed away from a skydiving accident. I had my own apartment for a little bit and almost bought a house during the separation, but when I reunited with my husband, I backed out. Fast forward two years to our divorce and I still don't have my own place. I got remarried and my new husband and I moved to Fairfax so I could go back to George Mason (which was great). We got pregnant like we hoped and started to spend a lot of time back in Charlottesville since my ob-gyn was there. We decided to move back after our lease in Fairfax was over. And now in the present, we are waiting for our house purchase to go through. It's a short sale so it's taking forever. On the bright side, we live with my in-laws who do not charge us rent. I really need to remember that this is temporary and it's very cheap.
Overall, my life doesn't suck as much as I feel like it does sometimes. It's not perfect, but no one's is. When I take a step back, it's pretty good actually.
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