Happiness is a …

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

There’s a story that’s been making the rounds on Alternet.org, called, “The Five Top Regrets People Have at the End of Their Lives,” www.alternet.org/5-top-regrets-people-have-end-their-lives. I don’t want to crib the whole story, so go read the idea development, but the five the author lists are 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. 3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

On Facebook, Robb Wolf, the fitness and diet guru, posted a link to 12 things happy people do differently. I can’t link directly to that image, so here’s a non-meme version I found: www.sensophy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/12-Things-Happy-People-Do-Differently.pdf .

I found happiness on my own back deck. On Sunday, I corrected my Multimedia Reporting class papers. I was not wearing a shirt, and I actually sweated a bit, and even though I was working, I was happy. I’m a simple soul.

I’m sitting here, on Monday, thinking No. 8, increase flow experiences, trumps everything else. “Flow experience” is “when you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged.”

With “flow,” there is no second-guessing of how you live life. And when you move from one flow to the next, there are no regrets. I’m far from the end of my life, but even now, the crap I beat myself up over is when I don’t follow my instincts and stay true to myself.

I don’t make any claim to be the happiest person on the planet, but I’m pretty content most of the time. I’m also smart enough to recognize that happiness is something that must be pursued to be achieved.