I associate happiness with energy, with direction, with being interested—whether that’s interest in figuring out what happens next in chapter 11, in reading an article about conflicting research on the economic effects of immigration, or in deciding how much to increase the allspice in a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe. I associate happiness with having a plan. The Plan, mind, doesn’t have to be grand, like “Write one thousand pages in three weeks” or “Save the world.” It can be, “Find out if Lidl is still selling shelled pistachios” or “Please get around to replacing the water filter in the cellar
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