Happiness

I'm going to take a break from blogging about sex, boys, and my crazy dating life. For now. I promise I will pick that back up again soon. After all, me not blogging about those things is like the Pope not being Catholic. Doesn't happen.

Anywho... I was reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult ( I think that's how her name is spelled. I don't have the book in front of me to confirm, nor do I feel like taking the time to internet it) and, besides the fact that I thought it was a good book, I really enjoyed a part where there is an equation for happiness. I don't think this will give away anything for anyone who hasn't read the book, but if you haven't, and don't want to know anything about it, STOP READING HERE.

The equation is: happiness = reality/expectations. This really hit home with me. I really like this idea. So we become happier the more closely related our reality is with our expectations. This made me think about things so much more clearly. When I started this blog, it was very clear that I was not satisfied. I kept saying, "I'm happy, I really am." But maybe I wasn't as happy as I could have been. My reality was so far from what my expectations were.

I had a class in college that made us map out the major milestones in our lives and predict when future milestones would happen. Based on that plan, at this point in my life I would have my Ph.D. in psychology, be married, with one kid, and (if I remember correctly) pregnant with twins. (I know, who predicts having twins, but me? But really, I still really would like a boy, twin girls and then another boy.) Um, clearly, my reality does not at all meet my expectations. I have my master's in psychology, true. But not married, no kids, and certainly not pregnant with twins. While I don't still hold this plan as what I expect from my life, marriage and children are both things I expect to happen at some point. And I don't think I will ever be as happy as I potentially could be if those expectations never become reality.

I think in the meantime I just have to change my expectations of things. Plan things differently, or at least come up with alternate plans that would at least bring my reality and expectations closer together so that I'm as happy as I can possibly be. Does anyone else think there's anything to this equation, or am I just molding it to make it fit to what I want?