The Science Of Happiness

The massive open online class (MOOC) on The Science of Happiness started today.  Not having my car this morning gave me a great opportunity to spend the morning studying.  Finished the first weeks reading and exercises.  Have read a score of books on positive psychology made this week’s readings an overview and review for me.  There are two books to go with the class that I should have tomorrow thanks to the book goodness of Amazon.

It was helpful to have focused on being happy before I got my car from the tow-yard and talked with the apartment manager.  Much like I suspected, she changed the towing policy last week without advance notice.  In the end, this should work better for me.  Hopefully I will get at least a partial reimbursement for the towing bill.  Management screwed up in multiple ways by failing to follow HUD regulations about reserved parking spaces for a person with a disability, not informing residence about a policy change and more. 

I could bug the government bureaucrats to bug management.  Nobody wants that.  It is not how I want to spend my time.  Staff and a $15B property management company do not work to get a black mark from the feds for towing a guy in a wheelchair’s car from a spot he already parked in 60+ times with no advance notice.

I wanted to yell and swear at someone for having my car towed.  Instead I kept a civil tone expressing how vital it is that I have a safe functional place to park my where I live.  The manager was not all that present for the discussion thumbing through a dozen years of leases while I was talking with her.  I guess it was the best she could do at the time. Her assistant said she would call me back.  I heard the same thing 12 days ago about a different issue and never got a callback then.  The manager was due to leave early today and be gone tomorrow.  I am glad I went to the office to talk with her.

I am grateful for doing a better job of showing up like a mature adult in my life today.  Plenty of room for more progress but it was good enough for today.  I will continue to study the science of happiness and be a happier person with a more meaningful life in the future.