I strive every day to find happiness. It can be little or big things. Given what I’ve been facing (my cancer journey), it sometimes is hard. But I don’t allow myself to wallow in sadness or negativity. I make a choice every day when I wake up to find happiness.
For me, I find happiness in little, everyday things. I love a good meal. I’ve been on a quest since last August to find pasta recipes that appeal to me so that I can experiment with making them at home. I’m not much of a cook, and I know my daughter doesn’t have time to do it for me, but the search and the process of trying out these recipes has given me joy. Recently, I watched an Italian chef make Cacio e Pepe, so I thought, that looks yummy and easy. Are the ingredients available locally? I couldn’t find the special, fat spaghettoni you need (he said the fatter surface of the noodles makes the sauce cling better), so I ordered a package from Amazon. The special sheep cheese, Pecorino, wasn’t at my local Walmart, so again, I went back on the internet to get it.
When everything arrived, I made it for myself because my daughter and her girls don’t like a wide variety of cheeses and have a strange dislike for goat and sheep cheeses. I toasted the peppercorns on a pan, grated the cheese, saved the pasta water to help the process of making the pasta creamy. The result was…underwhelming. I know it must have been me or substandard ingredients. However, the quest was the point, not the result. It would’ve been nice to have found a new pasta I could love, but hey, I did the thing.
The same goes for my #the100dayproject challenge that I decided to undertake. Every time I gather the day’s supplies to complete a project, I enjoy the process of making those choices. I love sitting in the quiet and putting pen or paint to paper. It’s soothing, and I feel pride when I complete the thing, even if it’s not quite as beautiful as I’d envisioned.
My daughter has a love for scented candles, in particular Bath & Bodyworks candles, and she hits every sale. It’s not just that she likes her home to smell good—she loves the quest to find a lovely candle. She loves the special candleholders and lids and collects those. I have lovely candles all over my desk because she shares her discoveries and finds joy in doing so.
I love, love, love sharing my love of film with the 16-year-old. We have similar taste. Right now, we’re watching True Detective: Night Country, and we’re watching one episode at a time rather than bingeing it because we’re savoring the journey together. We’ll finish before my surgery at the end of the month.
I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the TV shows I loved when I was a kid. Of course, I’ve been on a couple-year journey to watch every Star Trek series. I finished and plan to make another pass through it all this summer, in chronological order, just for the pure pleasure. I’ve been watching The Time Tunnel and Lost in Space.
So, that’s how I deliberately seek happiness. Every day I find it without looking for it, too. Sharing laughter with the family, enjoying the purr in my ear of the cat who likes to drape herself over my shoulder while I watch TV—so many unplanned moments, but I savor them.
So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what brings you happiness.
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Wouldn’t you know, I was looking at my browser page articles just now and found this! Very timely! https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/10-little-things-the-happiest-people-do-every-day-they-are-truly-content-with-life-says-expert/ar-AA1A2KpP?ocid=msedgntp&pc=W018&cvid=44db5cfae72c47a78177f1289ccae3c7&ei=15
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The sunshine and warm weather brings me happiness. After a long dreary winter yesterday I was able to open my windows for a little bit and wow did that feel good. Today I’ll be doing it again. 😁
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Watching old TV series, reading, being creative weather photography, painting, drawing, crafting, research, geography, genealogy, and history.
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I make a conscious decision every morning to find something positive in every negative thought or action or situation. I want to be happy and it is so much easier to spread the negativity than positivity. Think about it for a minute how much negativity are we subjected to every day and it seems to breed even more negativity. Now lets be real, I am human and there are times I struggle but I find at the end of every day when I take stock over all that transpired if I end in a positive frame of mind the anger and nastiness is not there within me there is peace and joy. It takes just as much effort to be one way or the other so I choose to be happy. Compliment those who provide good service, smile at a stranger, when crap it’s the fan and you want to “runaway” read a book and escape for a bit then tackle whatever head on and if I can’t, then I pray my behind off and attempt to release control over all the things I can’t control anyway. Now for a control freak like me that is more difficult that raising a stubborn child. (Have 2 out of the 3 of those). Right now I am at my Grams spending time with her. (Thank goodness I can work from here and am done at 3:30 every day) being with family is my happy place reading a book is my happy place too!
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I live in Washington state and the view of Mt. Rainier makes me happy along with our changing seasons. Reading and making stuff on my cricut also bring me happiness.
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Since I retired, I have made a conscious effort to chill… to try not to let things bother me and to keep a positive outlook. I try to find good in every situation. I will say outside sources make that so difficult these days.
I find joy in thinking and writing about my characters. I like hearing birds in the early mornings. I like seeing the bright sunshine and clouds after the ugly gray-white of winter. I get giddy seeing sales of paper products (pens, paper, notebooks, color pencils) and craft supplies. It doesn’t take much. Corny, huh?
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Things that make me happy are a cuddle from my pup, a call or text from my granddaughter. Daily I look for a red bird and read a good book. These are a few things that make me happy. A good book and a glass of wine…divine.
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Seeing a glimpse of sunshine after two weeks of heavy rain.
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Talk with kids. Changes my whole day