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Measuring happiness
through the incidents
of one’s daily life

AT FIRST, the ring around the drain was barely there, hard to see even when full morning sunlight streamed through the high windows of the bathroom.

No amount of scrubbing removed it so I let it slide, figuring that as long as I'd swabbed the sink with disinfecting cleaner, I was in no danger of germs or disease. It was merely cosmetic.

Weeks went by and the ring grew wider and darker. I kept thinking I'd someday make it to the hardware store and get something that would take it out, but you know how that goes.

Then one night, as I was brushing my teeth, I crossed the gunk threshold. It grossed me out. Though it was way past bedtime, I rummaged through the tool box my best friend had given me and got out this scraping thingie. (I'm sure it has some technical name, but it escapes me.)

A few minutes of careful manipulation and the ring was gone. The small accomplishment made me happy.

I suppose that's a silly definition of happiness, but in that moment, I was -- probably as content as the women who rated watching television high on a list of pleasurable daily activities, according to a recent study in the journal Science.

The study was notable in the way researchers attempted to measure "life satisfaction" or happiness, and for what it revealed. The subjects, 909 working women who live in Texas, kept diaries of what they did and when, and who they were with. The next day, they went over their activities and thought about how they felt while doing them.

Researchers believe the method worked better in defining how the women felt than surveys that ask general questions like "what makes you happy" because it captures specific incidents and sentiments.

As expected, few got a kick out of vacuuming the carpets, driving to work and dealing with their bosses. But unlike previous studies in which women said their most enjoyable times were spent with their children, this one found tending kids low on the scale, just above housework and using computers, and way below sex, hanging with friends, eating, praying or meditating, exercising, cooking, shopping and watching TV.

That's really not surprising. Taking care of children and their needs is stuffed with demands and pressures. Most parents worry and fret because they love their offspring, but not necessarily every moment of looking after them.

What the study shows is that pleasure takes vastly different forms -- from gentle fancies to overwhelming thrills -- and that defining happiness is as elusive as the emotion itself.

There's no way to equate removing an unsightly ring with the joy a mother may experience when a child graduates from college, announces an engagement or the birth of a grandchild.

Still, the small moments of contentment aren't inconsequential.

After a long day of life's pushes and pulls, any woman or man would surely enjoy an hour of laugh-tracked comedy, fashion-makeover fantasy or volleyball playoff.

A short break between chores for a dish of frozen yogurt or a dip in the backyard pool each brings a slice of pleasure. Redirecting the tedious routine of taking out the trash into a slow stroll, when a crescent moon doesn't steal the light of the stars, breathes freshness into a spirit.

The study contradicted the notion that happiness is largely predicated on wealth. Richer or poorer, people seem to find ways to be happy in the components that make up their lives, even in the drudgery of cleaning a sink.

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