Living away from your family can be difficult, especially around this time of year. While I was able to see my family for the Thanksgiving holiday, I would be going to Dallas to spend Christmas with my wife's family. I was able to speak to everyone on Christmas day; they passed around the phone and I managed to talk to everyone except for my two youngest nephews. The conversation with two people in particular, I knew, might be difficult for me.

This year has been exceptionally rough on two people about whom I care a great deal. This year saw one sister finalizing a divorce with someone who managed to siphon a large sum of savings reserved for their four children's college education. Now, having to move from the house she and her children called home, she has moved into a smaller house, more distant from work and further away from schools the kids would no longer be able to attend. Luckily, the kids have adjusted to their new situation. I hope it has been a similarly...

I listen to Rick Steves and watch his show. This is already grounds for AARP membership. But alas, I'm not that old. I just enjoy learning about different parts of the world.

A few weeks ago, Rick had a guy named Eric Weiner on the show, who wrote a book called The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places In the World. Steves and Weiner of course discussed some of the findings, where people were happy, why they were happy, etc. For example, the Swiss are happy because they are somewhat affluent, but they don't rub it in, they aren't generally a religious people, so they don't really worry about any Higher Being looking over their shoulder. They are the prototype for a content people.

Of course, you can imagine the findings of the Happiness level of Americans. Weiner found that wealth doesn't necessarily translate into Happiness, and I think America fits that mold. Rick mentioned a Volkswagon billboard, that said "Dare to be happy."...