Setting the stage here. This post is the companion article of what I wrote last week, titled "3 Things I Wish People Would Do More Often," which I encourage you to check out. This is not an abhorrently long post, ranting about the many injustices in our politically-infested world or how doomed humanity is because of our inherent pride and selfishness. This is not a post to point the finger and cackle, "shame!!" repeatedly. Nor is it really a post to incite change in a sense.

I am simply intending to share with you the things that, when less frequently a part of my life, make me happier. I believe humanity to be intertwined in a foundationally shared perspective despite the different "nurturings" that we each go through, so therefore, I believe these three things able to make you happier, too.

I think life could use a little happy, don't you?

1. Multitasking

It's a myth. Multitasking is a myth. If it weren't horribly abrasive, I would write that last sentence in all caps and then underline it and then make it bold and then, if I were feeling really up to it, would probably go ahead and italicize it, too. That's how strongly I believe that multitasking isn't a real concept.

I'll go ahead and add the disclaimer: yes, I believe one can go for a walk and breath at the same time. Don't be thick.

But, take something as simple as brushing your teeth and doing calf-raises simultaneously. One might think, "Oh, jolly ho! I'm exercising and imploring necessary hygiene tactics at the same time! What fun!"

I know that I do.

But, if you really think about it, you're actually doing both activities less well than if the activities were done on their own. You would get a more thorough, perhaps lengthier tooth scrub if you concentrated on brushing your teeth and doing nothing else. You would get a deeper calf burn if you really focused all of your energy into calf raising. You would probably go for longer and maybe make more drastic advances with height.

This is a rather trivial example. You would be left with cleaner teeth, tighter calves, and a bit less time on your hands, but overall, your happiness levels most likely wouldn't shoot through the roof here.

Where it really dips into the happiness meter is an example such as eating lunch and watching TV. Let's say it's been a long morning. It's freezing outside, you weren't weather-appropriately prepared to walk to class, you didn't sleep so well last night and consequently, you missed your alarm and also missed breakfast. So come lunch time, you're absolutely famished.

You pull out the freshly bought, local-bakery multigrain loaf, the crunchy organic hand-pressed peanut butter, and the fresh strawberry jam you bought at the farmers market on Saturday. You create a masterpiece of a fresh, preservative-free PB&J. You brew some fresh coffee and add a bowl of creamy garden vegetable soup that Granny packed up for you the last time you went for a visit.

Then! You remember! There's a new episode of "Modern Family" on! How marvelous. You scoop up your lunch and plop yourself in front of the TV.

Can you see how your happiness levels would increase if you separated the two activities? If you concentrated all of your attention, all of your senses on eating your well-deserved fresh lunch, and then you sat down to focus all of your senses on Modern Family? When pairing the activities together, you miss out of happiness possibilities. Vision, hearing, and thinking are engaged when watching the TV and taste and smell when eating lunch, instead of all 5 senses being engaged for both activities.

2. Listening to Music on the Walk to Class

I am a music lover, I love how different genres impact my mood and set the stage and inspire me. I love to discover new artists and fall in love with compositions. I love the feelings of nostalgia that arise so suddenly, so crescendo-like with an old family road trip album.

But, I believe there is a time and a place. I believe when I walk to class and listen to tunes, I am less happy than when I put down the 'buds.

Here's my train of thought. When I walk to class, as in just walk to class, I am able to engage all of my senses, all of my mindfulness. I am able to politely wave and offer a calm and cordial, "SAM! Hey! It's me!" when a friend is walking on the other side of the street. I am able to smell the air, and hear the pattering of squirrels running recklessly in the street. I am able to think about the day, and what upcoming adventures I have in store for me. I am able to internalize the weather, and be in touch with the present.

When I am listening to music, I don't really notice Sam. I don't notice the squirrels, I take no regard of the weather. I'm not thinking about the day or future adventurings. I'm thinking about the music. I'm thinking about the last time I heard this song, who I was with, how I'm no longer friends with that girl, and what I wish the song was. Point being, I'm not enjoying the present.

3. Complaining about How Busy I Am

I would like to officially invite you to share this third point with me, that's how universal I believe it to be. We are all very busy humans. Some of us have business thrust upon us by other busy humans, and some of us just have too many passions in life to handle, so we keep ourselves very busy. There are many days when we don't get enough sleep, which isn't hard to do, because if you don't sleep like a hibernating Alaskan grizzly bear, then you are scientifically labeled "sleep deprived." There are many days when we are so busy that we don't even have time to eat. The word "even" is very important, here.

My point. It's very relieving to express yourself in words such as "even" and "hardly" and "suffering miserably," but those complaints and those exaggerations impact the people around us. When I complain about how my needs weren't met, I put the burden of boosting my moral onto others. And most likely the needs of other's haven't been 100 percent met today, either. So, now they aren't just able to attend to their own needs, but they have to worry about mine too.

Having this kind of impact upon another human makes me significantly less happy than if I had saved the frustrated rantings for my Moleskine journal or my happy border collie, MacKenzie. Also, when I verbalize things like this it tends to turn into a larger amount of personal bitterness. I can exaggerate when I'm complaining to others, but I can't exaggerate when I'm complaining to myself.

It's good to express yourself, but this is most definitely something that I wish I did less of, and that I think would also contribute to my happiness.

It's good practice to take the time to reflect upon things that would make you happier if either increased or decreased in frequency. Ask yourself why it would be this way, what positive result would come out of the change? Often times, there are many habits we do without realizing it that decrease potential happiness.

I think life could use a bit more happy, don't you?