Happiness: it's not on sale at the mall

We’re just a month shy of the winter solstice or shortest day of the year. Today is one of those rare November days when the sun is shining, albeit from a lower point in the horizon than it does when we’re one month shy of the summer solstice.

In the summer, when the sun sits directly overhead, sunlight is concentrated in a small area and the resulting heat is great. When sunlight strikes the earth from a lower angle as it does in November, its rays spread over a greater distance, thus reducing the heating effect. That’s why plants go dormant, days are shorter, and we’re always cold. I suppose you could say the sun is spreading itself too thin.

People spread themselves thin too – especially in the weeks that fall between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although I didn’t shop on Black Friday (or Saturday or Sunday), I saw the overflowing parking lots and the traffic jams leading into them; I can only guess at the scene inside. It seems the marketers whose job it is to convince Americans the source of happiness can be found inside the mall will be getting a bonus this year. Of course, anyone who looks under their Christmas tree for a boxful of happiness this season will be disappointed. Happiness is a state of being, not a positive consequence to consumerism.

When you buy into the myth that happiness comes by catching all those money-saving deals (which require you to spend money), you risk spreading yourself too thin during this special holy season. And that might leave you with a post-Christmas chill.