Everyday Happiness

I’m never one to turn down good advice--even if comes from spam email.

Take my friend Nicole, who wrote to me--and about 10,000 other guys—the other day.

Aloha, my friend, she writes. Tell me what are you looking for, may be you are looking for me?

Nothing personal, Nicole, but I’m looking for a pile of cash five stories high, a good deli, and an escape from this horrendous winter.

I am cheerful, open, sociable, family-oriented, light-hearted, well-balanced, active, liberal, honest and responsible.

That’s quite a resume. All Nicole needs is to be thrifty, clean and reverent and she can join the Boy Scouts.

Nicole also is “fond of sport,” which is good, seeing as she’s so well-balanced. I wonder what she’s responsible for—or do I want to know?

Besides “sport,” Nicole also enjoys “cooking, growing flowers, playing bowling and listening to music.”

Playing bowling. Nicole just doesn’t bowl; no, she plays it. I wonder if she cooks, grows flowers, and bowls at the same time. Hell, I’d married her in a family-oriented minute.

I like sea and animals. It will be a pleasure for me to cook a romantic dinner for my beloved one.

Sea and animals? Clearly, Nicole’s not one to nitpick. She’ll take anything Mother Nature has to offer and fry it up in a pan.

But I have to give Nicole credit--she did end her email with a line that has got me thinking.

Find some happiness everyday…

Finding happiness has not been one of my strong points. I’m great at finding misery, fear, anger, and all kinds of crap to complain about, but my happiness detector appears to be on the fritz.

It’s been especially tough lately, as I’ve battling health issues and my manic overreaction to those aforementioned issues.

Trouble is My Business

I decided to visit a new doctor in the neighborhood whom my shrink had recommended. I was extremely reluctant because I heard the wait times could be long and I really didn’t feel like hanging around a doctor’s office all day.

But I had Monday off, no place to go, and a desire to try something different. So I went to the guy and I’m very glad I did.

First of all, the wait wasn’t too bad. But more importantly, I was really impressed with this doctor. He told I wasn’t suffering from yet another cold, like I had thought, but allergies.

I instantly felt better upon hearing this news. And I wondered how many times in the past did I convince myself I was sick, when I was actually suffering from allergies.

“Forget about that,” my shrink rightly advised.

The doctor also asked about my eating habits, which to be honest, are terrible, especially for someone who claims to be interested in his health.

I don’t cook at all, electing instead to nuke pre-cooked turkey meatballs, chicken sausage, and similar stuff.

If only Nicole could come over to my house and cook a romantic dinner for her beloved one.

Worse yet, I guzzle diet ice tea and sodas, something that both my doctor and my nutritionist said must stop.

The doctor tells me artificial sweeteners disrupt the kidneys in their efforts to clean out the body.

Obviously I knew this crap was bad for me, but I just pretended I could go on drinking it and suffer no ill effects. And the definition of insanity is…

So I’m cutting down on the diet ice tea and getting back to the 6-8 glasses of water routine. And I’m slowly—very slowly—going to start cooking my meals.

I want to improve me health so I can be cheerful, open, sociable, family-oriented, light-hearted, well-balanced, active, liberal, honest and responsible. I want to enjoy the sea and the animals and play bowling.

And I want to find happiness every day.