Step away from the TV set.

• Author: Puterbaugh, Dolores T.
• Position: PARTING THOUGHTS

MOST PEOPLE would prefer to be happier. There are those sad cases of individuals who, due to emotional scars, feel utterly unworthy of happiness. Far from that position are the drug-addled and/or thrill seekers who equate a short-lived dopamine or endorphin rush with happiness. For the rest of us, our definition of "happy" is unique and yet somehow we all think we know what everyone else means by "happy."

There are different types of happiness. The most basic is having your needs met and having minimal discomfort or pain, and a little love. This is the desired life of the family pet. Most people want something more. Some equate being happy with having fiin. For them, happiness is a passing state of being. Morally and psychologically mature people equate happiness with deep emotional connections with others, spiritual lives, and creative, meaningful activities. Note that even the variety of happiness experienced by an Irish setter requires some sort of purposeful activity for happiness. The Irish setter will find purpose in patrolling the perimeter, alerting the others in the pack to dangers, and otherwise fulfill a robustly meaningful doggy life.

Unlike the dog, ever alert for the call to duty, most people believe they do not have time to take on activities to feed happiness: hobbies, exercise, and volunteer work will not fit. They would like to have a deeper spiritual life, more time in nature, richer conversations with friends, and time to pursue hobbies, whether watercolor or wakeboarding, but they are too busy. When people ask my husband where he finds time to do all the things he does, he answers, "Oh, there are a lot of extra hours--right behind the television."

One of the first few steps towards a happier life is removing obstacles to happiness. In the case of TV, it means reducing viewing time to free up that time for activities that both increase happiness and actively decrease unhappiness. This is a challenge: you are being asked to give up what seems like really good stuff for... nothing, so far. "Creating space" for happiness sounds like a lot of touchyfeely psychobabble. Maybe it is, but if you want to make room for "happy," you have to clear out some of the junk.

The average U.S. adult watches five hours of television per day, not including services such as Netflix and streaming video, web surfing, and other passive screen-focused entertainments. For retirees, it is worse: the average retiree in the U.S. watches 43 hours of TV...