A good horse. A good dog. A good pick up truck. Yep, that about sums up my contendedness today. Is happiness really that simple? Or is it elusive? Is happiness a trick question? An equation to be solved?

Because I’m really gifted at overthinking, some days l tend to complicate it. I treat it like a formula, something like:

(6Fa + 3Fr + 1N)2Fu /t = Magical unicorn happiness!

(6 family, 3 friend, 1 nature, times 2 feelings of fulfillment, divided by time…) Then, if some part of the formula is missing, I begin feeling like I’m not happy.

But, it’s when I’m not overthinking that I am truly, actually most joyful.

I was loading up my horse today, being followed by a great old dog, thinking about how much I love my Ford F-150. I was grinning, just loving life in that moment. Is everything perfect in my life? No. Do I have some things in which I feel unbalanced that I need to work on? Oh, for sure. But in that moment, I wasn’t thinking about those things. I was thinking about how I just loved the absolute shit out of what was in front of me.

I happened to pop into Instagram a bit later, and my wise friend Lisbeth Darsh had posted, “If it all were to end tonight on a slippery curve, what would you be angry with yourself for not doing? Go do that today.”

It’s true. Boiled down to its essence, happiness is about grabbing that thing right in front of you and being present enough in your own life to enough to enjoy it.

Don’t overthink it. Don’t complicate it.

I’ve got a damn good dog and a damn fine horse and a great truck.

Simply put, I’m happy.