Happy-ness

I've been thinking about happiness lately, and some of this has to do with the current sermon series at church—not that my thoughts have been all that spiritual. Many have commented that happiness can't be found by directly pursuing it; rather, happiness comes when we're pursuing something else.

I was thinking about this last night. I had paused from whatever I was doing at the computer (it was so important that I don't even remember what it was) to read to Sheri. I read a sentence or two from The New Machine Age but without context it didn't seem all that good a fit. I switched to The Wisdom of the Sadhu, which worked better, though one of the parables didn't really work for her.

After a while I went to the kitchen, remarking that the dog probably wanted her teeth brushed. I opened the cabinet where her dental supplies are kept, and heard her jump from the couch. Her toenails clicked on the hardwood floor as she sped toward the kitchen, and by the time I had the toothpaste on her toothbrush, her forepaws were on my leg as she expressed her joy.

Her joy was contagious, and I remembered hearing that people live longer if they have someone to care for. Come to think of it, I saw a bumper sticker recently: on one side was a large stylized paw-print, and the words were: "Who rescued who?" or maybe "whom"…