The Secret to Happiness

Would seven prove to be too much? is the prompt for the latest 100 Word Challenge. It's a question that's been bugging me this summer as I toil to thrill the nation's frogs:

Men derive happiness from washing dishes, reveals one report. 
Women, says another, achieve it through being women. They are healthier, better educated and less often murdered. And, naturally, they enjoy a blissful routine of dirty dishes. 
Different research claims rose-tinted spectacles are an essential ingredient of bliss. 

These studies omit one crucial truth. The secret to happiness is digging. Whenever I need a boost, I hack out a pond. The vicarage lawn is vanishing beneath my pickaxe. 
During the relentless school holidays I feel my serenity teetering. I know, before August is out, I'll be assaulting the London clay. But would seven prove to be too much?


The first of many...



Comments

  1. Catherine-Jayne7 August 2012 at 11:11

    Haha you are right, the secret to happiness is digging! I hope you excavations result in much joy...and don't prove to be too much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron7 August 2012 at 18:52

      So glad you've discovered this too. My tally so far is three ponds and a stream, but I have plans...!

      Delete
  2. Older Mum7 August 2012 at 13:29

    Wow - very impressed with the trench you've dug!I'll bet you get lots of exercise, not to mention off load a heap of stress with that pick axe, and digging

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron7 August 2012 at 18:53

      Took me weeks, that did. That was two years ago. Now it's full of newts and tadpoles and I've dug several more!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous7 August 2012 at 17:12

    Excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rachel Selby7 August 2012 at 18:57

    Unfortunately my secret to happiness is pizza - and seven is definitley too much! Maybe if I had a garden...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron7 August 2012 at 19:48

      You are funny! Seven is definitely too much happiness in your case!

      Delete
  5. Sally-Jayne7 August 2012 at 20:00

    I'm with midlife - pizza over ponds. Although my secret to happiness is a slab of Cadbury's Dairy Milk and seven doesn't even touch the edge!

    Great effort with the digging though - would love to see pic of the completed ponds.

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    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron7 August 2012 at 20:38

      Oh, I should have put one on. You can see that hole two years on in this post http://adventuresofamiddle-agedmatron.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/courting-controversy.html. I'm with you with the Cadbury's Dairy Milk!

      Delete
  6. jane @ northernmum8 August 2012 at 08:28

    A pond? I find solace in a hot bath and gin....

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  7. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron8 August 2012 at 09:00

    Naturally I derive intense pleasure from those too. But they lack the cathartic violence of pick-axeing.

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  8. Sandra Crook8 August 2012 at 13:55

    Digging! Our dog must have been positively euphoric then. Enjoyed this original take on the prompt.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sandra Crook8 August 2012 at 13:55

    Digging! Our dog must have been positively euphoric then. Enjoyed this original take on the prompt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron8 August 2012 at 13:58

      Not just any old digging. Gotta be a pond at the end of it!

      Delete
  10. Anonymous8 August 2012 at 15:12

    Maybe the next step is to redesign and re-route your waterworks! Love the way you move from those silly advice-column abstractions to nice solid clay - I think that progression is what makes this piece work.

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    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron8 August 2012 at 15:31

      So glad you think it works. I'm ever doubting. Perhaps I could dig a new stream to my next pond!

      Delete
  11. Susan Mann10 August 2012 at 16:21

    Excellent. xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10 August 2012 at 22:21

    The secret to inner peace is getting our hands in the soil, but digging my lead instead to pain!

    ReplyDelete

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