Steps to Contentment

1) Leave work on a Friday afternoon after a week that tried to kick your ass, until you kicked it right back and triumphed.

2) Run 6 miles on a treadmill in the gym, in your comic book-addled mind thinking how great it is that your “powers” have fully returned.

3) Drive home on a drizzly evening with the windows cracked, singing along to Pearl Jam's Yield in its entirety, as enjoyable as it was 10(!) years ago.

4) Eat some pasta and meatballs.

5) Surf the net for a bit.

6) Watch a great DVD(more on that in the next WWW).

7) Place three scoops of (low fat) triple chocolate ice cream into a large bowl. Sprinkle some corn flakes over them. Stick a chocolate chip cookie in one side, and pour some milk over that whole mess. Grab a fork and dig in.

8) Listen. Outside your open window, the rain is trickling down to a stop, and now crickets are chirping. Nearby, your favorite cat is curled up on the shirt you discarded on the floor when you got home, purring in his own contentment. And you? You're feeling pretty good. Life has its ups and downs, so it's important to notice when we're feeling up, even if we're not sure why. Just enjoy it while it lasts.

9) Type up the whole formula so you don't forget.

10) Sleep, and enjoy this time; you've earned it.