DISQUS

cute! and Winston looks good, too

In psychology, we distinguish between "hedonic" and "eudaimonic" well-being and happiness, the former referring to those needs (desires) that are only subjectively felt and whose satisfaction leads to momentary pleasure, and the latter to those needs that are rooted in human nature and whose realization is conducive to human growth. Hedonic well-being would be measured simply as a balance of positive and negative affect, whereas eudaimonic well-being needs to take more complex variables, such as goals, values and motivation into account.
Having and raising children may or may not contribute to positive affect all of the time, but it may contribute to a feeling of achievement and contribution to humanity that is part of eudaimonic well-being and happiness.

Take a look (if you haven't already) at the website www.shrinkingcities.com
There now is a whole sub-genre of architecture and city planning working on concepts of "rueckbauen" (~de-building) not just living and commercial space, but also infrastructure such as roads etc.

What he seems to be describing is the concept of "mindfulness", i.e., being focused on and attentive to the present moment as opposed to being preoccupied with the past or the future. Dwelling (maybe regretfully) on the past and rehearsing the future (maybe anxiously) both increase the risk of negative affect, and as Ed Diener and others have found, we have a built-in negativity bias anyway.
I have known mindfulness as a lifestyle ideal, and it was a new aspect to me that it works by increasing happiness.