I just started following Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. A former lawyer (like me...well, I'm still a lawyer, although part-time from my house for the past 5 years), she is working on a book (and accompanying blog) which chronicles the year she is spending grappling with the challenge of being happier. It sort of reminds me of Eat, Pray, Love, but in a (maybe?) more practical way. I think I'm going to email Gretchen and ask for a copy of her resolutions chart.
The other day, Gretchen asked what day you would want to re-live (ala. the movie "Groundhog Day"). When I think back about my happiest days, I think of hiking in the Scottish highlands with my sister and my husband, parasailing over Lake Tahoe with my sister, camping with my kids. Super active stuff with the people I love is my favorite thing to do and it is what makes me happiest.
A funny thing, though. One of my other (secret) favorite days was a day in Monterey about a week after I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma 8 years ago. I was still going through staging for my cancer and hadn't started treatment yet, so a lot was unknown. It was a scary time. But it was also weirdly empowering -- the idea that I could do anything, because who knew how much time I had left. It was actually sort of freeing.
I think when it comes down to it, the relief of feeling free of trappings of society, my social identity, my obligations, my "tapes" that I play in my head, result in a huge happiness for me.
I'm intrigued to keep reading The Happiness Project. Maybe