Ten Things That Make Me Happy
A couple of days ago, Patricia at Today I think… posted a list of ten things that make her happy. I thought it was a wonderful idea, and it really reminded me of the Thankful lists. It never hurts to take an opportunity to be thankful…or happy. With that in mind, I have made my own list of ten.
Friends and family make me very happy, but I think it’s so much of a given that you can’t include them on a list like this. My nieces and nephews would take up four of the ten spots right away, as they each make me so happy in their own ways that it would be unfair to clump them all together.
So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are ten things that make me happy:
- Water – the ocean, a pond, a river, a stream, a creek, a trickle, water that seeps out of the rocks on the side of a mountain and seemingly comes from nowhere – oh, I love it! It makes me happy.
- Trees! I love all the different shapes, all the many different ways they can grow. They make me happy.
- Green – to look at the world and see green leaves and green fields and green bushes and green vines…that makes me very happy. I love living in the country and seeing all the green.
- Louis! He is always happy to see me, as much as I am happy to see him. He is a good and loving dog, and he makes me happy.
- Writing. I never would have thought that blogging would make me as happy as it does. It was a fluke that I started blogging at all, but it was a happy fluke.
- Movies – I love movies. I love stories I can see. Movies of all kinds (except scary, gore-filled, zombie-fied or shark infested movies) make me happy.
- Reading! Reading is the best; it’s watching a movie in your head. Book stories take longer to tell, so you can savor and enjoy all the good parts for ever so much longer than in a movie. Plus you get to do your own accents. Reading makes me happy.
- Photography. It’s no secret that photography is a personal joy. I love capturing a moment, and I love reliving those moments whenever I choose. Photography makes me very happy.
- My Car. I love being independent, and I forget how happy my car makes me – until it’s broken. My car allows me the freedom to come and go as I wish. That makes me happy.
- Laughing! It may seem redundant…but it’s true. I love to laugh. As an entity apart. As its own thing, separate from the cause of the laughter. I love when people make me laugh. I love that they are able to make me laugh. Laughing really makes me happy.
What makes You happy?
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Items of Interest:
Tuesday, 10 happy things… by Patricia
When hope and plans seem all but gone… by Heather
Related articles
- Be happy right now, right here! (bongzmotivation84.wordpress.com)
steadily skipping stones 
Cicadas! I love their insistent rattle this time of summer.
The tiny lavender rose struggling in my garden, with a scent that stops me in my tracks it is so lovely…
Dogs chipmunks wrens humming birds butterflies horses
Friends who also love all of the above
Gardens, tidy serene green ones
~and~
Wild abundant ones
Stone walls, with a cat basking in the warm sun and plants poking out here and there
Redwoods!
My paintbrush
Nice list! I also love that sound – the sound of summer. I don’t know if it’s cicadas or crickets or what, but it is a constant thing at night. I also love to hear the frogs at night. I live somewhat near a swampy area and you can hear them clear over to my house.
I also like stone walls and, for whatever strange reason, I like fences in general. I think there are just some forms that make us happy, maybe due to a childhood event that we can’t even remember anymore.
I like that you added “friends who also love all of the above”. Isn’t it wonderful, and doesn’t it make us happy, to share! So many things get that much better when we can experience them with people we care about. Plus, you have someone to remember with and talk to about it. That makes the garden, the scent, the sight of it last, even if the actual thing has faded.
Thanks for the link sweet girl.
I like your list. Interesting how simple things we take for granted are our happy buttons. I think most of the time we walk around with our senses dead to the world we live in. Almost like if it doesn’t slap us up the side of the head we ignore it. I am trying to change that “unawares” thing in me.
Patricia, you’re always an inspiration! There are so many good things on your site, it would be selfish not to share.
I was telling my aunt and uncle about your cute little lizard last night, and how you talked about not paying attention. You are so right, a great deal of what goes on around us is fairly well ignored. I get wrapped up in myself, or what I’m doing – work, the next post, what am I going to eat for dinner, I need to do laundry or dishes or vacuum or sundry other chores – so I don’t slow down and pay attention. My eyes are open, but they’re looking at what’s in my head, not what is in front of them.
Actually, I think that happens to our lives in general, on the grander scale. We get caught up in our thoughts, fears and emotions. So we don’t stop and take a look around. I’m trying to work on that too. Baby steps! And just appreciating is a good baby step.
WOW. My list would just about mimic yours–but I would emphasize elephants and birds in general as well as butterflies. It does help to be thankful and happy–and it even makes sense to stop and make the list because when things get hectic, even the best things can become invisible. Thanks for the reminder–something else I would add to the list (fellow bloggers with world views I appreciated).
That’s pretty cool, Patti! I like elephants, too and I’m starting to get into birds for some reason. They never really interested me before, but now all of a sudden I’m seeing them and becoming fascinated.
As people are listing their items, I keep thinking that maybe the list needs to be 20 items, maybe 50…. There are so many things in the world to enjoy, that elicit happiness from us. But I just now thought, “no, it needs to be short, because then you really have to narrow it down to the things that you most enjoy.” I think that is part of the exercise. But it’s interesting that these are all relatively small things, things you can do every day or access rather easily. Except maybe elephants. But you can look at elephant pictures and figurines!
Remember that this focus on being thankful, for me anyway, started with a book review on your blog! And when I wrote about thankful, a post of Patricia’s was listed as possibly related. Ripples, ripples, ripples… I never get tired of that.
I love this! Reminds me of what I was told to do to stop focusing on the negative—to write five things I liked at the end of each day. At first I was bad with it and would forget and would end up having to write days’ worth of lists, but eventually I would remember to do one daily. It was a struggle to come up with things and they’d be repetitive (“I got to sleep in” was on a lot of my lists), but eventually it became easier. Minute things, such as a kind stranger saying “hello,” makes a world of difference.
That’s how I am with my Thankful page. I try to remember to write in it every day, but sometimes I don’t get online and sometimes I just forget. Like you, I sometimes look back on a day and have to really think hard to come up with something specific, beyond “I’m thankful to be alive, to have a car, to have a job, for my dog….” etc, etc. It’s really hard when I have several days worth to complete – I can barely remember what I did each day, much less what special thing I was thankful for. I’m working on getting myself to start the day with a Thankful attitude.
And you’re so right – it can be so minute and simple, a kind hello, someone holding a door for you, seeing a bunny or a butterfly or a turtle…so many delightful things in the world to be thankful for!
I love your list Michelle!! I think you are exactly right about family and friends ….. so excluding that I think my list would include:
1. Laughter – I love to hear it, love the feeling, love the causes
2. Riding my motorcycle – feeling the breeze and the feeling of freedom
3. Sailing on the bay – the view, the quiet, the breeze, the smell of the ocean … wonderful!
4. Birds – hummingbird at the feeder, red bird in the tree, or eagle soaring along the river bank
5. Freshly mowed grass – soft on the feet, smell of fresh grass, the feeling of ‘finished’
6. Pictures – brings back wonderful memories, captivating moments, loved ones
7. Softball – cheering, nice base hit, a great double play, and winning!!
8. Suishi – the creativeness of the chef, the special sauces, the advocado, cream cheese, eel, spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, wasabi, and going with my hubby!
9. Traveling – seeing the countryside, beautiful buildings, mountain scenery, diversity of people
10. Home – our bed, our kitchen, our new garage, the feeling of accomplishment, when friends and family visit, and is my favorite place to be!!
FUN blog Michelle. Thanks for sharing.
I like your list! It’s interesting to me that a lot of yours are active and outdoorsy things – motorcycle, travel, sailing, softball, birds. Even the grass, you’ve got your feet in it, you’ve just finished mowing it, you’re standing their enjoying a job well done. It all sounds very you! I’m glad you did your own list of 10 things that make you happy. It’s fun, and it makes you think, and it makes you appreciate, doesn’t it?
I love that you put home in there, it’s a great thing to enjoy your home and get pleasure from a place where you spend so much time. It would be terrible to not like where you live and I think it would wear you down and do negative things to your emotions. You’re making me want to visit!
Please come to visit us!!!!! We would love to have you!!! PLEASE!
1. Reading a good book for hours on end.
2. Writing,when I lose track of time and everything just flows.
3. The sound of the rain–especially when I’m still in bed and don’t have to get up.
4. The satisfied feeling of having a good, long run.
5. Chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven, when the chocolate is all melty.
6. Hiking in the desert, with all that emptiness and silence.
7. Looking at the stars, especially in the desert.
8. Sitting around a campfire.
9. Waking up in a tent, in a national park, to the sounds of nature, knowing I have the whole day ahead of me.
10. Walking along a beach, looking for seashells.
A very good list of happy things! I’m right there with you on those chocolate chip cookies, yummy. I have never been to the desert, but that’s something I’d like to experience. But I love the beach and campfires and stars… So many wonderful things to enjoy in life!
Always love to read about what makes folks happy! Love how you included “trees!” Certainly, underrated on the happy-lists in general 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
anne
Hi Anne! Thanks for stopping by. Trees do make me happy – I was loving our early spring here in Virginia when the trees were in bloom. The only thing is that it went by too quickly!
I love this, Michelle! My list is pretty similar. Well, #4 is different. 😉
Right now it is –
Two-stepping under a full moon in South Texas.
Trees that tower above me, ancient and full of secrets.
That tingly feeling of anticipation that fills my heart the moment the airplane lifts off the runsway.
Family and friends who have become family.
The water – sitting by the lake, floating down the lazy river, or jumping waves in the ocean.
Singing along to the radio while stuck in rush-hour traffic.
Crackling fires.
Laughing so hard no sound comes out but tears come rolling down your cheeks.
Following the road, just to see where it goes. (Hello, roadtrips!)
Discovering new friends in strangers.
You mean you don’t have a Louis? 🙂
I like your list! My co-worker and I are going to do line-dancing classes in January for fun and exercise, and when she first told me about it, I thought of you! I know you like to dance, and I thought, “Next thing you know, I’ll be two-stepping like Caitlin!”
I love how these lists both “feel” like the people who are writing them – I can recognize you all in your lists – and at the same time tell me something new about the person.
I would pick the same ten things of course swapping Louis for my Sandy. Flew over from Susie’s
Hi Catherine! A couple people had very similar lists 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to say hi today!
Such a nice list – the enjoyment of things we can’t buy (for the most part) but can only enjoy while we’re here. I stopped over from Susie’s Wild Ride and am glad I did.
Hi! That’s true – we get to enjoy the sky and water and trees and we don’t have to pay a dime! Thank you for dropping by and also for commenting 🙂
I would add, spending time with family!
This is a great list. Thanks for bringing it to the party!
That’s a good one! I skirted family and friends because I couldn’t narrow those happies down, haha.
Hmm, great list. It made me think. Just listing:
1) Movies
2) Books
3) Video Games
4) Playing board games (and cards)
5) Eating out with a friend
6) Volleyball (can’t do that anymore – but when I could…)
7) Teaching
8) Sudokus
9) Blogging
10) Ice Cream (another, mostly, no-no, but still…)
Susie L sent me.
My contribution is a short story from about a week ago.
http://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/visitor-from-hell-a-short-story/
Scott
Thanks for adding your list! That’s great. It really is a fun exercise, isn’t it? Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Susie’s blog sent me to check you out….and I decided to follow you. I enjoyed your list. Top 10 things that make me happy:
1.) Relationship with God
2.) Family (this includes the hubby)
3.) My dogs
4.) Music (both singing & listening)
5.) Writing
6.) Reading
7.) Nature
8.) Sunshine
9.) Friends
10.) Playing Board Games/Card Games
Hi! Thanks for coming by and commenting. And for adding your list, that’s a good one. I’ll be over to visit you this weekend 🙂
Thanks! I look forward to reading more of your posts.