Finding Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is a universal goal. Who wants to be unhappy? Unfortunately, defining happiness is akin to defining what's valuable in your neighbor's yard sale: one person's trash is another person's treasure. Glen Reynolds has posted an interesting Atlantic article by Tony Woodlief that assesses children as a source of happiness. The article includes a few references readers may want to pursue. The comments contribute significantly, as well, and are an essential read.

As an experienced participant, I must agree that raising three children to adulthood - into adulthood in this economy - has been costly on many fronts. In terms of happiness, my "investment" in parenthood has returned handsome rewards. Though my wife and I would do some things differently in child rearing, I think there is no question we would do it all over again given the chance. In fact, we're almost thankful we didn't marry before our 30s; otherwise, we could easily have ended up with a football team of wee bairns, a book advance, and a series on The Learning Channel.