Spreading Joy

Making a Difference One Person At a Time One Day At a Time

by

What Makes You Happy?

A Daily Treat for Myself!

When I treat myself, I love an extra hot Venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte (sugar free) from Starbucks or a Diet Coke and Reese Cup.  These simple little things bring me great joy and are truly a treat.

Last year, I was looking for a journal (a treat for myself) and stumbled upon this cool desk calendar. 3,650 Things to be Happy About, by Barbara Ann Kipfer.  Being a lover of the million little things that bring joy to my day, I was intrigued.

One was opened, so I began to flip through it.  10 items a day, everyday. How very cool! Giggling with excitement, I decide to treat myself to this wonderful little treasure.  2 months have passed and I must say, it has been one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever given myself.  I love tearing off the page, anxiously awaiting the next 10 things.

I have not always agreed with some of them, but that is to be expected as everyone does not like the same things.  And then, there are the things that I have to “good search” to see what they are.  (Sorry Google, Good Searching makes sense, as they help out my little non profit.) I have learned something new from this calendar nearly every other day! For instance, did not know what a Yurt was.  Go on…Good Search it, if you need to. I did.

I decided to try and list 10 things a day for a week to see what I would come up with.  Some have to do with things that happened on that day – others, are just random things that popped into my head.  Here they are in no particular order:

Monday: Full moon hanging on a cloud, Gel Pens, soft Kleenex, board games, belly laughs, waking to a kiss, cool sunglasses, soft carpet, Atomic Fireballs, White out.

Tuesday: American Flag, rolling fog, cute note pads, making cotton candy, cloud shapes, Hot chocolate with marshmallows, Handwritten notes, roller coasters, forgiveness, Reese Cups with a Diet Coke

What is Wrong with this picture? It would be better if it were a BIG Cup Reese Cup!

Wednesday: Cute Socks, Chuck Norris Facts, Free Books, Puppies, Statue of Liberty, heart dangle earrings, unconditional love, hot soup, cute purses, lightening bugs

Thursday: Watching my children sleep, Anticipating Christmas morning, huge sliding boards, Ringling Brothers Circus, itouch, Animal cookies, listening to rain, Long lingering HUGS, Hope, Blue Roses

Friday: Little Debbie Cakes, homemade lemonade, reading poetry, Old books from the thrift store, Service Men & Women, Breakfast for dinner, Choices, PB&J with Glass of Milk, Disney Classics, hot peanut butter cookies out of the oven

Saturday: Toddlers that ask millions of questions, Being safe in God’s arms, Singing loudly in the car, Sitting sideways in overstuffed chairs, quotes, Falling asleep listening to the ocean lap against the shore, Watching my kids make the right decision, reading poetry, Policemen & Firefighters, Riding with all the windows down in the car

Sunday: Coconut Cake, Having the Bible ready available in hand or online, Universal Studios, Unsweetened Iced Tea, Monkeys on anything and everything, See sawing with a friend, Blowing Bubbles, Cute adorable socks, m&m’s, handmade bracelets

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.–Henry Ward Beecher

These are just a few things that make me happy.  What about you?  Can you list 10 things a day that make you happy, so that at the end of the year you’ll have your very own 3,650 things to be happy about?  What about listing 10 things a day that are simply happy things?  For example, spaghetti dinners do not make me happy, as I do not like any form of pasta.  But – being at the spaghetti dinner with smiling friends and getting warm hugs – now…that is happy stuff.  See what I mean?

If you blog, I challenge you to list 10 happy things a day, blog it and then link back here.  I’d love to read it as well as share it with others!

If you don’t blog, consider listing your 10 happy things a day for the week in the comments below.  It will be wonderful to see the things that make YOU happy!

Again, I ask – What makes you happy?

{{{HUGS}}}

© 2010 – 2011, Spreading Joy. All rights reserved.

Comments

  1. 1

    Oohh! This sounds like fun! 🙂 I will start doing that.. because a lot of little things make me happy too! Here are ten things that really make me smile!
    The zoo..( of corse!).. Mac-n-cheese, writing letters on pretty stationary, going to the mail box and getting cards, the Silly songs with Larry from the Veggie Tales, my elephant house shoes, diet dr. pepper, Zax sauce from Zaxby’s.. YUM! A new box of colored pencils, and seeing my favorite Twitter buddy every morning happy as ever! I will write these in my journal too. It should be interesting going back at the end of the year and seeing what all made me happy in that year! Way better to do that than just to think of the bad.. duh! 🙂 I liked this one. It made me smile!!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Thank you so much for writing about my calendar! The calendar is something that the publisher lets me do as a followup to my book 14,000 things to be happy about. But my website allows me to offer even more than a book could hold. It’s an endless project, an endless list. Cheers, Barbara Ann Kipfer

    Reply
  3. 3

    I love this idea and am going to ‘try’ doing the 10 things a day but can see where it might be a challenge after the first week or so. Am going to start with first one today on my blog 🙂

    Reply
  4. 4

    @Sammy – Whahoo…so great to see your list here! I love it! Why does Elephant house shoes NOT surprise me?hmmm?? LOL. I bet your journal is full of amazing doodlings – as you are an amazing artist type gal! Thanks for stopping by! {{HUGS}}

    @Faith – Wow thank you for that! I’m going to share YOUR blog link with everyone so they can check out your list.
    http://byfaithonly.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-makes-you-happy.html

    Yall run on over and see what she is happy about..you know you want to.

    @FAith & @Sammy – even if we don’t do 10 a day – and manage to do 3 or 5 even…it will be so wonderful to look back at the end of the year and say wow..how blessed am I? right? I love the thought. Thanks for stopping and taking the time to comment.

    *****OH MY GOSH**** I can NOT believe that YOU (Barbara Ann Kipfer) took time out of your busy schedule and commented!! That is going on todays happy list!! Seriously – you really made my day in doing that. [nods] thank you. I need to get your book 14,000 things to be happy about. I’ve looked for it in the store where I purchased my calendar and they never have it. They have your other books, but that is the one I need to get. Maybe I’ll treat myself in a few weeks…we’ll have to see.

    I love your web site. Fun, easy to navigate and so many great things there. Want to list it here again too. http://www.thingstobehappyabout.com/

    Thanks Barbara! Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
    • 6

      christy Thank you for putting your link here! I’m sooo excited to share your list with others!!! I’m encouraged that this simple post could inspire others to stop and look at all the wonderful little things that are all around them every day!!!

      Thanks Christy!! I truly appreciate you!!

      {{HUGS}} of Great Joy

      Reply
  6. 7

    Hi

    Just arrived on your website while looking on concrete and construction. It’s a horrible situation, this economy that we all seem to sink with it with.

    Anyhow, I just installed this web browser, Opera, Firefox, Mozzila, Safari and I have to find a way to subscribe to your blog here, but I recive some strange message when I hit the feed button. Any Ideas?

    See You

    Reply
  7. 8

    Hi, Awesome blog you have here. I wanted to let you all know that I think Twitter is going to be one of the stronger networks because of the fact that it is supported by so many industries. I also think when Twitter introduces some of it’s new features, returning traffic will increase to show the real growth of the network.

    Anyway, I build a site that gives away great resources for Twitter that are 100% free, so come and visit and don’t be a stranger.

    Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  9. 10

    @Jenny – the subscribe feature is back. Sorry for that – it disappeared. Thank you. It is the very top thing now in the left sidebar.

    @Lavern Thanks for the kind words. Keep writing and you never know. I don’t really consider myself much of a writer. 🙂

    @Twitterlayouts thx for all youdo!!

    @Laquanda thank you -I too, need to get better about commenting. It is such an easy thing to do that brings great encouragement. Thank you soo much for reminding me.

    @Perfumes for Women – I didn’t even realize the subscribe button was gone. Thank you for pointing that out. Its back. Top of left side panel.

    @Harry Thank you so much. I do try and put out great content.

    Reply
  10. 11

    Great idea – reminds me of a gratitude journal, only this would be easier as I would simply jot down a little something, so I’d be more likely to do it!
    Today I am grateful for people who plant flowers – it makes walking around the neighborhood such a welcoming experience!

    Reply
    • 12

      I love my gratitude section in my journal! I talked about that here in the 2nd video on this page.

      http://www.spreading-joy.org/site/spreading-joy/videos/

      When the days are bad…and they will be sometimes, its just a matter of when – we can look back at all of those wonderful things and be reminded of just how wonderful life truly is!!

      Thanks Margo for how you continue to make a difference!

      {{HUGS}}

      Reply
  11. 13

    10 things that make me happy……well, let’s see: riding bikes, walking and praying, singing, dancing, wearing flip flops, reading a new book, going to library, craft magazines, listening to an old song that brings back memories, watching my flowers grow.

    Reply
    • 14

      {{HUGS}} wow, I love your comment!! I’m with you on the old songs, walking and praying. And singing!! I love singing at the top of my lungs when NO one is around.

      I love looking at craft magazines, I’m NOT crafty – I also love reading recipe books and magazines 🙂

      YOU made me smile! Thank YOU!!!

      Reply
  12. 15

    I am thankful for many things, but one thing that always made me happy was my beloved dog. I loved taking care of her, doing things I know she liked, giving her her favorite treats, and making her comfortable. I loved loving on her. Whether we were doing something or I was just watching her sleep, being with my sweet Cindy gave me joy. 🙂

    Reply
    • 16

      thank you michele! i love how pets bring so much joy to our life! they are part of the family for many of us. and if that is her in your picture, she is a gorgeous dog!

      thank you adding even more to our JOY

      {{HUGs}}

      marie

      Reply
  14. 18

    Having two sons was awesome….but having my daughter has been a true joy!!

    Even at age 40; even though it was a third c-section; even though I had major back/neck problems and had just gone through two major back surgeries; even though everyone, including my ob-gyn bet against me having a girl……it was worth all of the pain and more!!

    By the way, her name is Reagan Joy. She is named for her grandmother Joy, who truly did bring joy and sunshine into lots of lives that she touched.

    Reply

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