Insight on Happiness

I was reading an article in the New York Times about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a muscular degeneration disease resulting eventually in complete paralysis. Dr. Bach, who treats A.L.S. patients, claims that his patients on ventilators rank their level of life satisfaction an average of 5.1 out of a possible 7, as compared with healthy people who rank their satisfaction at 5.5 on average. Bach was quoted as saying, "Happiness is reality divided by expectations." I think he hit the nail on the head. I must admit that I would probably rank my happiness significantly below a 5.1 on his scale. Do I really believe I am worse off than a paralytic? Of course not. My reality is very good. The problem is my expectations, which are unreasonably high. Presumably the expectations of those suffering from A.L.S. are fairly low. Thus a paradox may be reached where a healthy, successful, ivy-league law student is less satisfied with his life than a paralytic with a terminal disease. Interesting, no? I always knew ambition would wind up being a curse. The solution is obviously to lower my expectations but that is much easier said than done.
  ¶ 3:03 PM