I didn’t buy a lottery ticket last week. I wasn’t afraid of the odds, I just knew money couldn’t make me happier than I am right now.
I know, I know. Too many pink Sweet ‘n’ Low packets. But hey, it’s not all saccharine. There really is evidence-based research on this lottery happiness thing.
Back in 1978, psychologists from Northwestern University right here in Chicago published a study called Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Our Illinois State Lottery had just begun back then, and the researchers asked 22 winners to rate their happiness months after the initial elation of winning the big bucks. In addition, they asked the winners how much pleasure they were taking in mundane activities like reading a magazine or meeting friends for coffee. Then they interviewed 58 people who had not won the lottery but lived in the same neighborhoods as the winners. The results showed that months after the winners were announced, the non-winners were just about as happy as the lottery winners, And by then the so-called losers were finding much more pleasure in everyday activities than the winners were.
As long as they were at it, the researchers decided to interview 29 people who were injured in accidents that same lottery year, too. In each case, the accident left the victim paralyzed. After initial sadness and depression, the newly-disabled people rated their pleasure in everyday activities slightly higher than that of the lottery winners, and their life satisfaction was nearly the same.
Interesting.
It’s Monday. After I finish the cup of coffee Mike made and poured for me after we woke up together this morning, I’ll flip on the radio and listen to some pop music while getting dressed. Ben Folds? Jackson Five? Warren Zevon? Stevie Wonder? From there I’ll head outside with Whitney. It’s a cool, sunny, spring morning in Chicago. Maybe we’ll take the long way home, listen for birds, smell the lilacs.
Back in the apartment, I’ll spend a few hours on my part-time job for Easter Seals and then give Flo a call. She’ll tell me about everyone who phoned her over the weekend. She’ll say how much she is looking forward to sitting outside today and let me know what she has planned for the rest of the week. Her credo is to do only one thing each day that takes her out of her apartment. No more, no less.
Flo is one happy woman.
Our call will end the way it always does. “I love you, Mom.” “I love you, too.” Flo turns 96 later this month.
Out with Whitney again. Maybe this time I’ll brush her, too. Mike is working from home today, so I might listen to a book while waiting for him to finish. I’m re-reading my favorite book from childhood, one my older brothers and sisters read aloud to me when they were teaching me to read: The Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh.
After my trip to the 100 Acre Wood? Off to Costco! I’ll hang on to the back of the cart, eavesdrop on people from all walks of life, try to decipher the dozens of foreign languages I hear, all while Mike pulls us through the aisles. He’ll stop periodically, say “Feel this!” and drop an enormous oversized jar of some unknown substance into my hands. “Miracle Whip!” he’ll exclaim with glee. I always roll my eyes, but I can’t help but laugh, too. And I can’t help but relish, ahem, the $1.50 hot dog and pop we enjoy before we leave. Free refills, too!
After unloading the Land of the Giants groceries at home, we might slink over to Hackney’s to share some wine with friends: Mondays are half-price bottle nights.
Back in our apartment building, if our favorite maintenance man James is working, we’ll stop and talk baseball before stepping into the elevator. Opening day is coming up, Chicago! A dear old college friend emailed today to say he can’t make it to the White Sox home opener on April 13. He’s mailing us his tickets. For free. Who wouldn’t think they’d won the lottery after a day like today? And the thing that makes me the happiest: I didn’t even buy a ticket!
You are a piece of work!
you are blind and I am not. but we are just as happy as each other. Your mom is alive and mine is dead. but we are just as happy as each other. your dog is more talented than mine but I have 3 dogs. but we are just as happy as each other.
it must be our incredible spouses!
Dean
must be our fantastic spouses!
Agreed. Must be the spouses. They *are* incredible.
But having fantastic friends around doesn’t hurt, and I am lucky to count you and your spouse among them. Thanks, Dean!
Funny you should mention “Winnie the Pooh”. I was on the el yesterday and a young (adult) woman seated in front of me was reading an obviously old book, yellowed pages, etc. Curious what it was, I was delighted to see she was reading “Winnie the Pooh”!
Judy Roth
Interesting indeed….
If I were stuck on a desert island, the one book I’d need is Winnie-the-Pooh. Not just for reading and rereading but for all the memories it evokes of times when I read it aloud to our kids and later our grownup granddaughter. I can still hear their laughter.
You are so right, Sheila. Listening to the book is really evoking long-ago memories –all good ones.
You forgot to write…”and maybe run into my good friend Nancy at Costco”.
Thanks for inviting me to join you for dinner! The hot dog and company were great.
Oh, Nancy, it goes without saying that when you showed up at Costco last night, we knew we’d won the MEGAmillions!
Sounds like a delightful day to me!
It was.
That was an “eyebrows up” blog….loved it!
Gee, I guess I’ve learned a *lot* from my sisters over the years…!
I loved this post!! Your mom sounds like such an incredible woman. Also, my husband Mike’s favorite thing about going to Costco are their $1.50 hotdogs!!
Great column, Beth — as I’ve said many times before, you’ve got the best life!
You always did have the gift of a positive mental attitude, you bum, you. K
hahahahahahahahahahaha!
I loved this blog. I didn’t buy a lottery ticket for the same reason. After having lunch with a group of friends talking about what they’d do if they won the lottery, I chimed in that my life is great exactly like it is. Of course they rolled their eyes, but it’s true. We appreciate the simple pleasures of life. I’ll have to check out those Costco hot dogs! Great post, Beth.
Warning: if you try the Costco hot dog and pop combo outside of Chicago, you may not have the same idyllic experience. I looked it up on the Costco blog (yes, they have a blog!) and they tout The Costco hot dog and soda combo (Costco item number 138158, by the way) as an icon, right up there with the McDonald’s cheeseburger and Campbell’s chicken soup.
From that blog post: “Despite its iconic status, the Costco hot dog experience varies around the country. Most Costcos sell the Hebrew National hot dog, and a few use Best Kosher brand. One warehouse, the Chicago Lincoln Park location, serves Vienna beef hot dogs.” That’s the one Mike and I go to: the one in Lincoln Park. Not coincidentally, the Vienna beef headquarters is right next door.
I’ll keep that in mind… BURP! When you typed “hot dog and pop combo” I laughed out loud! FYI, in the South a “pop” is called a “Coke.”
For example, I ask a friend, “Do you want a Coke?”
Reply,”Yeah.”
Me, “Okay, what kind do you want?”
Friend, “A Sprite would hit the spot.”
I don’t know why we call all soda-style drinks “Coke” here but we do. Maybe it’s because Coke was invented in the South (in Atlanta). Why do y’all call it “pop”?
Beth, I thought Bev and Cheryl might be your sisters. Thanks for the info. I’m glad you had a fun family trip to “Hot-lanta” I’ve spent lots of time in Atlanta showing horses. In our “down-time,” my friends and I have probably done every tour the city offers. I especially enjoyed learning the history of Coke-a-Cola. You forgot to go to an Atlanta Braves game– smiling. And, YAY, you’re writing a new book!
You have a great life, Beth… And I appreciate you listening to a little Zevon in the morning!
Chuck
Awesome.
No matter how tough things get, I realize how lucky I am to have the people I love in my life…Thanks for the reminder! 🙂
P.S. Rog started serving the new spring menu at South Water Kitchen and it is amazing! If you ever get a chance to go, or if you want to meet up there one day and catch up, let me know!
Cheers,
Tara
Oh, Tara, you didn’t need the reminder, you have always been so appreciative of the loving friends and family members you have around you, particularly your Grandma.
AND SPEAKING OF LOVING FAMILY MEMBERS, I’d either forgotten, or didn’t know, that Rog is involved at South Water Kitchen. I *love* that place, Mike and I were just there a month ago and I bet Rog was working, wish I’d known to say hello.
I suppose it might be difficult for you & I to synch our schedules, but I really would enjoy meeting up with you there sometime, lets’ see if we can make it happen.
Rog has been at South Water for a year now and he just made some big changes for the spring menu. If we don’t get a chance to meet up soon, definitely ask for him when you go next because he’s usually there!
Cheers
Tara
You got it absolutely right – we just got back from 3 months in Naples, Florida. We don’t own a million $ house or a 100 ft yacht but we do have a pool by our condo and I do own a kindle with a lot of books on it. Books, a pool and sunshine what more could a person ask for?
Here’s to enjoying what we have!
Penn
Amen.
Love the view thru your eyes!
“Pop”…..short for “Soda Pop”.
Aha! Thanks, Cheryl
Hey Kim — the two commenters (is that a word?!) above, Bev and Cheryl, are my sisters, and we joined my other sisters Marilee and Bobbie, plus Flo, years ago in Atlanta for a Sister’s Weekend. We try to read a book for each gathering, kinda sorta a Sisters Book Club, and for that one we read a book by Jimmy Carter and Rosalind Carter. We went to the Carter Presidential Library, MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, and…the Coca-Cola factory! I think it was there that we learned how southerners call pop Coke.
I love how you live in the moment and enjoy all the small things that add up to make your life wonderful. I also try to live my life this way.
Confession: Monday was a particulary leisurely day, and those kind of days are not always possible. Nice work if you can get it, though!
Perfect timing to me to read this blog post, Beth. I was just thinking this weekend how I have to spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying my young kids. Nothing beats laughing and playing with them.
Yes, it will come as no surprise to those who know me well (hello, Mike!) that the word “cleaning” did not make an appearance on the list of things I did on my marvelous Monday. Have fun with the kids, Carey!
Happy Early Birthday to Flo!!
Thanks, Ray – looks like we’re going to keep the celebration a bit quiet here on the homefront this year. Flo’s 20th great-grandchild is due on that very day, and she says a healthy birth for baby and mom will be the best gift of all. The new baby is a girl, and of course I suggested to the new parents that they name her Florence.
It’s okay if they don’t name the baby Florence. We’ve been calling AnnMarie, Flo, for short long enough now, that even her brother, Ray, stopped correcting us…”dat’s not her name!”
Great post and reminder why spending time with you is always so uplifting! Looking forward to our next get-together.
Aw, shucks! Thanks Linda! To my blog readers, Linda is in my writers group and we get together periodically to critique each other’s stuff. This round I will actually be sending them the first chapter to what I hope will be my next book. I just wrote that sentence to remind myself to really get to work on it!
Reading this was a great start to my work day. . .I will appreciate the sun outside my window even more. It’s easy to get lost in the frenzy, thanks for the reminder that life really is good (and I think the money I didn’t spend on a lottery ticket will go nicely towards a tanglble bottle of wine:)
Cheers!
Awe – thanks for making feel better about losing tons of money! Anyway – Audrey and I going to read “Winnie the Pooh” together this Summer!
If Audrey reads any of it out loud to you, make sure you have
…a tape recorder running!
Beautiful reminder of the Lincoln quote, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Thanks Beth!
PS There are some wonderful TED Talks about happiness. Your post inspired me to watch my all time fave about synthetic happiness again. There are some visuals but I think you’ll get the whole point without them.
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html
That Lincoln sure was a genius. I love the way he used the word “most” here, as in “MOST people.” His wife suffered from depression, isn’t that right? Lincoln was ahead of his time, his quote here acknowledges that while some of us come out of the womb with a decent balance of serotonin and all that other good stuff in our brains, others are not so lucky. They have to work much, much harder to feel happy. Like Mary Todd Lincoln, for example. So kudos to Abraham Lincoln for using that very important word “most” at the beginning of this quote. And thank for the Ted lecture, Mary Ellen. I’ll give it a listen.
Thanks Beth. I just love you!!
Well, shucks. Any chance you’ll stil be in Colorado this Fall, Rachel? Mike has to go to a conference in Denver and I may go out there with him, maybe Whit and I couldl visit your class?
Beth, I’ll be thinking about you and Mike and “Doggie In The Window” on opening day. Love and best always, Nancy Faust
Dear Nancy,
Thank you so much for commenting to my blog –I’m happy to be going to opening day this Friday (I’ve never been to opening day before!) but it sure won’t be the same without you.
I mean that. Poor Whitney wil be the first of my Seeing Eye dogs to go to White Sox Park without being serenaded with “Doggie in the Window”!
Boohoo.
Beth, I will ,miss the opportunity to meet Whitney and visit with you and Mike on what I hope is a memorable opener.I will be watching your blog for a report of the day. However if you find yourselves in the Mundelein area, , my door is always open and if Whitney can tolerate it, will play her a song or two. Your column on the relativity of happiness will long stay with me. It hits a nerve in every readers life. You nailed it, Many thanks, Nancy
Wow! Notice to my mom, Cheryl, to get a photo of this for the Wall of Fame! Nancy, you may not know, but you are household name in our family…even the Cubs fans love you!
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