SO, IT REALLY ISSSS THE LITTLE THINGS . . .

I majored in psychology in college and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. Despite my fascination with the human psyche, I'm not normally drawn to the self-help section of Barnes and Noble. I enjoy occasionally reading about the powerful gray matter that sublets the space between our ears...however, I couldn't live on a steady diet of I'm-okay-you're-okay literary material. (Can be kind of a downer. Don't you agree?)

Yesterday, I listened to a fascinating psychology professor on TV (from fancy-schmancy Harvard, no less). He's been schlepping his new book, Stumbling on Happiness, from talk show to talk show.


He listed what he believes to be the four main "ingredients" to happiness. Actually? They seem pretty simple. Pretty intuitive. I guess we do tend to get too busy to notice the obvious at times, huh? (at least I know I do!)

In my own words, here are the things he said were pertinent to general happiness . . .
* Relationships with family and friends are vital. (no doubt!)
* Small moments count. It's the number of things that bring us happiness throughout our day - not how huge the events are. (Yeah. I think I agree.)
* We need to value experiences over objects. (Amen. Amen. Aaaaaamen! Give me a great trip somewhere, as opposed to a shiny, new car, any day!)
* Don't sweat every decision so much. People end up fairly happy either way. Decisions can seem much bigger in the moment. (I'm pretty sure that I have wasted much energy sweating the small stuff.)

So, what made me happy today, you ask?

*sigh* I paid $2.01 a gallon for gas today. That's what made me happy. ;-)

It really is the little things. Doesn't take a Harvard professor to figure that one out.