Happiness vs. Shit That Sucks

I was going to do this as “happiness is”…but that struck me as incredibly gay.  So I’ll balance it with the dark side, trying to match entry for entry but not necessarily making it so.  Also, lots of stuff definitely sucks (dying, getting killed, robbed, bubonic plague, AIDS, cancer, etc.) but since it hasn’t happened to me personally, I can’t really comment on it. 

Happiness is…

            Slam dunking a case for your client.

            Getting an excellent offer in settlement on a case.

            Relaxing after a hard day at work, drinking a well-earned beer (or two, or three…etc.).

            Getting a great new job.

            Receiving the package you’ve been waiting for in the mail.

            Seeing your favorite band in concert – and they play your favorite songs.  Bonus: the t-shirts rock too.

            Hearing from an old friend you haven’t heard from in a long time.

            Finding something you thought was lost.

            Getting a new (or newer) car.

            Getting your car back from the shop – for less than you thought it would cost.  Particularly when it comes back from the body shop with a mirror shine paint job and all the dents, dings, and scratches gone.

            Finding a new album to listen to over and over again.

            A great movie which grips you for its duration: and (if on DVD) some killer extra stuff.

            A good book you can’t put down until the last page.  Bonus: a great movie adaptation of the same book.

            Going on a trip to a really nice place.

            Falling in love.

            Getting a new, faster, more advanced computer with new features.

            A warm gun.

            New strings on the guitar, or new tubes & a bias job on my amp.

            Learning to play a new song.

            Being able to appreciate a beautiful day, no matter what s**t may be going on your life at the time.

            Watching an impressive thunder storm from the safety and dryness of your apartment/house.

Shit that Sucks is…

            The judge buys opposing counsel’s idiotic arguments.

            When some cheap-ass insurance company won’t offer a reasonable amount.

            Getting fired (or even laid off).  Even if you saw it coming a mile away it, sucks, but it’s especially nasty if you didn’t see it coming.

            Coming home from work and finding you have no beer – and it’s too late to buy any.  I really hate getting to the checkout line and having the cashier insist that you missed the deadline when your watch disagrees (stupid store policy of refusing to sell beer 5 minutes BEFORE the time deadline runs).

            Getting an email which says that the item you ordered is out of stock – and had been when you placed your order.

            Going to the store and finding that not only are they out of stock of your favorite item…it’s been discontinued.

            Finding the concert is cancelled – because the band broke up.

            Bulls**t from people who call themselves your friends but don’t act like it.

            Losing something important.

            Having your car totalled or wrecked.

            Having your car break down.

            A band you really like breaks up – or a key member dies (e.g. John Lennon or Layne Staley).

            A crappy movie – or a crappy date – or both.

            Having to cancel a trip for some bullshit reason – or being unable to go.

            When you find someone you love has been cheating on you – or just plain using you.

            Your computer’s hard drive crashes, wiping out lots of important s**t.  And HP has discontinued the recovery discs you need to install a new hard drive.

            Getting caught in a thunder storm with no umbrella and no shelter.

It’s rare in life that anything majorly awesome or crappy happens.  Usually our happiness or misery is the result of an aggregate of cool or shitty stuff.  Part of the secret to happiness – which I’ve yet to master, despite my generally (sometimes annoyingly) upbeat disposition – is the ability to focus on the good stuff and not on the bad.