Is happiness all it's cracked up to be?

The subject of happiness continues to vex me lately. As previously reported, I've got two friends amidst major life changes, one moving to LA for a new life and new job and the other potentially headed to Bermuda for same.

I've had some truly happy moments lately and they're nothing like I'd thought they would be. The most striking was so ordinary. There was an evening when my son started taking karate lessons. He's had trouble at school staying focused: think Chatty Cathy as a 6-year-old kindergarten boy and that would be my son. So when he went to his first official lesson of karate and was focused intently on what the instructor was saying, followed directions and didn't let the kids around him distract his attention, I was blown away. We went home and even had an unusually nice family dinner. The conversation was pleasant, if uneventful, and I remember a distinct moment when my toddler daughter did something funny and everyone laughed. It was like a scene from a friggin' Norman Rockwell.

Driving has always been a release for me - a chance to listen to music and escape, to a limited extent, that which bogs me down in the swamp of life. With a father who drove cross country for a living, there's a certain amount of wanderlust in me. Oddly, though, it's almost always something I've experienced by myself as an adult. When the family is along, it's point A to point B. Anything more is considered lost. And the music, well, let's just say it's not as good.

During a recent 2.5-hour drive for work, I had some opportunity to think. So the topic of happiness floated back to the top of my mind, like a turd that just won't flush. I continued think about my own idea that progress is good, but happiness is best.

Perhaps that's the obvious here ... of course happiness is better than some predecided, or even suddenly identified, milestone. It's the trip stupid, some would say with indignance, or at least a heavy dose of "duh" in their tone.

Beyond that, I have no further revelations. Just some thoughts I've had and this is a place where I can document some of them. Perhaps some day they will give me more clarity. Some day they may be useful. Some day, just knowing I documented some things could actually make me happy. Imagine that.