From Here to Financial Happiness

Day Thirty Five Peering Forward, Glancing Back

When we remodel the kitchen or take an expensive vacation, we imagine the great pleasure that will come when the kitchen is finally finished or when we're actually on the trip. And while those may prove to be high points, the potential for increased happiness extends far longer.

In fact, we may discover that the best time is the period before, when we're contemplating the new kitchen and planning the vacation. At that juncture, we can daydream, conjuring up all kinds of possible kitchens and visualizing trips to a host of exotic locations. And after we settle on our plans, we can eagerly anticipate the new kitchen and the upcoming trip, musing about how great things will be.

But once the kitchen is done and the trip is over, it's easy for both to slip from our minds. We adapt to the new kitchen and take it for granted. We forget about the trip. What to do? To squeeze a little more happiness from the dollars we spent, we should pause occasionally, admire the new kitchen, and think how lucky we are. We should look at the photos from the trip and recall the good time that we had.

While both the kitchen and the trip can be sources of ongoing happiness, we will likely find that the trip scores better on that front. That might seem counterintuitive. After all, the kitchen is still there, present in our lives. But that's also the problem. As with other possessions, we'll have to watch the kitchen age over time. The cabinets will get ...