Get Happy! (PQW Feb)

This time of the year is probably my least favorite. Dreary, cold, and everyone seems to be sick. Everything looks dead and everybody has a serious case of the blahs, am I right? 

In light of all of that depressing stuff, a friend of mine on Facebook recently got her friends to help compile a list of stuff that makes them happy. I thought it was interesting to see how simple most of those things were. Many seemed to be universal and some were very personal. Some people, especially Americans, seem to think that happiness is a goal in which we must strive to reach or are entitled to receive. We spend too much money and time in it’s pursuit.  In reality, it is found more in our state of mind than in our circumstance. It is found in the simple rather than the expensive.

For example, here is a list of some of the things that make me happy, in no particular order:

*Time spent laughing with and at my family. Super easy to do. I mean, have you met them?

*Date night. Before children, I had no idea it would be so important. It’s a rare and sacred bird for sure.

*Uninterrupted book time. I fall asleep many nights on a book.

*Having an idea for a newspaper column!

*Freshly turned dirt in the spring. You can tell I was raised in a farming community! The smell of dirt always does something to my brain. Dirt is in my blood. That sounds yucky, but if you have it, you understand what I mean! 

*Inside jokes with good friends. I am a lover of all things funny, but inside jokes are special. It’s like a code between you and someone else that sounds dumb once explained to others.

*Watching my son succeed at something. That almost surpasses happy. That’s a deep joy.

*Good hot coffee and sweet iced tea

*Open windows on a nice day

*Hammocks

*Helping others.

My “happy stuff” might be way different than yours or we might have lots in common. Making a list of things that brighten my life has brightened my mood and I just might make it till spring! If you are stuck in the winter doldrums, give it a try! Think simple. 

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” -Nathaniel Hawthorne