The Meaning of Happiness

The Meaning of Happiness

It’s Saturday night, and I’m in charge of supper, but I don’t know what to make. When I asked my family, they all suggested cooking whatever makes you happy. 

That is a big order. There are lots of things that make me happy. Let me think…

Definitely, being with my wife and child and going on walks and doing things together certainly makes me happy. 

Watching my favorite teams win games is pleasurable. 

Staying healthy always makes me happy, though lately, that hasn’t always been easy. 

Of course, certain foods make me happy: lasagna, chocolate, cream cheese and lox on a whole wheat bagel, and ice cream, most of which I’m not supposed to eat anymore due to my heart-healthy diet. 

But how do you make any of those into a supper? Maybe they meant I should cook whatever makes them happy.

That, of course, raises a different set of criteria. I know my wife wants to do a lot of traveling. And my child doesn’t live with us, so I’m not sure what makes them happy other than understanding more about their world and where they fit in. 

How do you cook any of that?

But my job is to make tonight’s dinner…

I know this is a cop-out, but I think I’ve figured out what to do — 

Tonight I’m going to order dinner out. There is a nice French restaurant that I know delivers. It also has a location right near where my child lives. 

They make some incredible soups and entrees; I can order some of those; one of them is called Faux-cau-vin. It’s like Coq au vin, but without the chicken, it uses beans instead. It’s really good. That covers foods that make me happy. Hopefully, that covers the traveling part for now, after the food must have originated from France. 

I’ll arrange for the deliveries to happen at the same time around dinner, where we can Facetime and be together, like in the old days, making us all happy. 

And to top off the meal, I promise not to bring up any political discussions, only family stuff about what we mean to each other. The thing that makes us all feel the happiest. 

Tomorrow’s my wife’s turn. I wonder how she is going to top that.