How to be Happy

Why does it seem that I am never completely happy?  Wherever I am, whatever I do, whatever I have, whatever I achieve -- I can't help but think that there must be some other better place, some other more fun thing to do, some other thing I still need to have, some other thing I must accomplish.

When I go out shopping and buy something that involves choosing something for myself, like getting shoes or a bag, and walk out the door with my buy,  I always wonder -- did I make the right choice?  I get the nagging feeling that maybe it is not exactly the right size (or is it?), that another style was better, or that it was too expensive and another shop could have offered a better deal. Most times, given that you can return or exchange most things here, I go back and change it, the size, the type -- but, even after doing that, I am not any happier, and the whole cycle continues.

My husband says that my problem is that I can not handle having too many choices. If I had no choice then I would be happy with what I have. The TED talk of Dan Gilbert: The Surprising Science of Happiness, which I just watched, confirms this. One portion details studies that he made which in the end points out to the idea that if we are stuck with one option, we are happier than when we have several choices. That's it -- my issue exactly. So what to do about it?

Hmmm, would I be happier having only one choice or several choices .... Haha, the cycle continues.


PS. As Sheryl Crow sings it: "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got."

PPS. I am happy now, I am finally writing again!