YOU HAVE FEELINGS? DO THEY SAY HAPPY?

Get your happy shine on. Image via BoomerPDX camera

HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE HAPPY

You’ve heard it before, whether you’re ten, thirty-four, or seventy-four years old.

Balance. Say it like they said, “Plastic,” in The Graduate.

Life, or a good life, depends on balance.

Think moderation.

Most of the time you hear this and nod and agree like the fat man who eats a Costco load of Nutter Butters before their Weight Watcher’s meeting.

They see moderation in the rear view mirror.

This post strives to change the point of view; you’ll be out front with these examples.

HAPPY SPORTS

Too Much: Football with the concussions and surgeries and crippling leg injuries.

Too Little: Soccer with the headers, the shirt ripping, and crippling injury fakers.

Just Right: Lacrosse, where you bang heads enough to wear helmets that look like the protection jockey’s wear, the injuries are real, where using a Native American name for a Native American sport won’t earn you a seat of shame before a tribal council.

SPORTS 2

Too Much: Mixed Martial Arts with the knee to the gut, the elbow to the head, and all that blood to wade through.

Too Little: Boxing with the rigged judges, champions who won’t fight each other, and the legacy of Don King.

Just Right: Amateur Wrestling where there’s room for everyone, qualified coaching, and clean mats.

HAPPY OCCUPATION

Too Much: President of the United States with half the country hating you, friends who want the job, and enemies making a statement by blowing themselves up.

Too Little: Wal-Mart Greeter for those who want better answers, those who ignore you, and little boys who want to grow up to be  just like you.

Just Right: Teachers who know how to work the room, keep their students on task, and don’t talk about their summer plans with people who don’t have summer off.

OCCUPATION 2

Too much: Wall Street Bankers who will never convince anyone they didn’t crash the economy, even though they bought new cars and vacation houses in 2009.

Too Little: City Managers who tell their fellow citizens about cutting services and personnel due to a budget crunch, but find enough money to build a skate park.

Just Right: Manager of a gun store where you never worry about robbery, put customers on hold and they understand, and you talk about death from a positive perspective.

HAPPY RELATIONSHIPS

Too Much: You help your partner and they say, “Mind your own business and keep your big nose where it belongs.”

Too Little: You ignore your partner and they mope around saying, “You like your cat more than me, you are ashamed of me,” and they wonder why you even stick around.

Just Right: You lend a hand when asked, then do the extras that make helping out so rewarding, and when asked why you did the extra, you say it wasn’t you.

RELATIONSHIPS 2

Too Much: You travel with people who need you to carry their bags, lift their bags, and get testy if you ask them how many rocks they packed.

Too Little: You travel with people who pack their belongings in a paper sack, wear the same clothes a week straight, and get testy when you talk about finding a laundromat.

Just Right: Buy a Rick Steves Travel Europe book and follow every instruction he lists on how to pack, what to see, and what to do.

Steves is the gold standard for the budget traveler who wants a good experience, not a disaster to complain about the rest of their life.

If you’re like most people you swing between Too Much and Too Little without enough time on Just Right, which is where true happiness lies.

Most know happy in passing and see it fade away in the rear view mirror of life.

From now on, set Just Right out front and aim for it.

To make sure other readers get it, add your own Too Much, Too Little, and Just Right in comments.

And remember, BoomerPDX is just right.