How Are You Doing?

I was thinking about something today. I have a general problem with overall life satisfaction. Never mind that I have a very nice life, I’ve had very lucky breaks and great opportunities, and I have found love. I am going to Heaven, and I’m going crying (that phrase sounds more natural in Spanish… but you get my point).

So I thought: where is the balance between being completely bored and just hating everything, and being so busy I feel like canceling every single commitment on my calendar?

Well, it’s really hard to say what would make me “just happy enough.” So I reverse engineered the problem, and started with trying to answer what would be the best response to the question:

Hey, Ina! How are you doing?

Ideal Answer: I’m actually doing great! The house is good, nothing more to fix for a while and we got our new couch! I finished the MBA finally, and I’ve had more time to be at home and cook for my husband and me. We’ve been exercising together, too, and we’ve both lost 20 pounds altogether! The kids at school are good. They can give me trouble sometimes, but I just end up sending them to the office. For the most part, I’m having fun with the lesson plans, and I think they are, too. Some don’t like to listen, but I know they know better. I’m also working on this cellphone application with the Google Maps API. It’s neat, although I don’t devote as much time to it as I would like. I’ve been getting together with @na and Rick every couple of weeks for their bookclub, and we just finished reading A Civil Action. I love it that we do Boston-themed books. Also, I’ve been thinking of starting the baby making machine at some point soon. It’s time, I think. I don’t want it to get so late that I’ll start wondering why I didn’t do it before! Also I have been thinking of a new idea for an after school club: a programming club. Wouldn’t that be something? Also I keep going out with the girls every couple of weeks to dinner, or plays, or whatever comes up. It’s good to talk to them and not lose touch. I’m just really busy, but doing really good!

Wow, that would be a great answer to that question. I took some liberties with reality (such as finishing the MBA, programming with the Google API and being a teacher), but hey, that’s my perfect answer.

What would be yours?

ina