Things to be happy about....
One of my favorite books of all time is a book called 14,000 things to be happy about. It's a fat little book that just lists oodles of different things to be happy about. I first discovered it at my house sophomore year of high school and immediately started my own 'Happy List'. It's the most simple way I've ever found to put me in a good mood. Freshman year of college I brought the book with me to college and every night before bed I would read a few pages and use a blue felt tip pen to put dots next to the ones I agreed with. I found that the better mood I was in, the more dots each page would have.
The most memorable Happy List moment that I have was a night my 2nd semester of Junior Year at OWU. It was a really rough semester for me, I had just come back from Scotland and was having a hard time readjusting. My roommate, Kelsey, was also having a rough time, her father was fighting a losing battle with cancer. After one particularly bad day for both of us I suggested that we both sit down and make Happy Lists. We sat in silence for the next 90 minutes and each filled every inch of two pages of notebook paper. We put the lists on our wall right by the door so we could see them every day and be reminded of all the things that make us happy.
For awhile after that and for a portion of senior year I devoted my entire AIM profile (my precursor to Xanga!) to Happy Lists that I would change every day. People really liked reading them. Some people even started their own Happy Lists.
I brought 14,000 things to be happy about to Japan and still look at it every once in awhile. Tonight I looked back at what made me happy my freshman year of college and what things got asterisks or smiley faces instead of just dots. Here are some of those things. I would encourage all of you to try making a Happy List, utilize your free time at the office and I guarantee it will lift your mood if not make you grin.
Things to be happy about:
pretty or amusing sleeping masks for when the sun's pouring in
fleur-de-lis
mental files
the Greek alphabet
flirting for no reason
anticipating vacations
running down the dunes
senior proms
really thick eyelashes
being recognized for doing your own thing and respected for it
using the library's periodicals
pink and blue sunsets
sapphire = wisdom
having your cat come when you call her
vanity license plate and a college decal on the back window (my plates at home are OWU 2003)
cheese and fruit lighted by a candle in a wine bottle
late Sunday breakfast
when anyone can look at you and tell you are head-over-heels in love
first college weekend
sea otters
inability to leave the theater because your date insists on watching the credits
falling crazily, I'd-kill-or-be-killed-for-that-man in love
"Camp Granada" by Alan Sherman
plump floor cushions
a summer screen house
acting goofy
James Taylor, singer
coed dorms
the times when you feel you're the only two people in the world
looking irresistible
upper state New York
Illinois
feeling witty, confident and devastatingly feminine
princesses
kicking off your shoes and splashing your feet in a fountain
the position of your head as you bite a taco
Happy Desu Yo. Your turn. Dozo.
The most memorable Happy List moment that I have was a night my 2nd semester of Junior Year at OWU. It was a really rough semester for me, I had just come back from Scotland and was having a hard time readjusting. My roommate, Kelsey, was also having a rough time, her father was fighting a losing battle with cancer. After one particularly bad day for both of us I suggested that we both sit down and make Happy Lists. We sat in silence for the next 90 minutes and each filled every inch of two pages of notebook paper. We put the lists on our wall right by the door so we could see them every day and be reminded of all the things that make us happy.
For awhile after that and for a portion of senior year I devoted my entire AIM profile (my precursor to Xanga!) to Happy Lists that I would change every day. People really liked reading them. Some people even started their own Happy Lists.
I brought 14,000 things to be happy about to Japan and still look at it every once in awhile. Tonight I looked back at what made me happy my freshman year of college and what things got asterisks or smiley faces instead of just dots. Here are some of those things. I would encourage all of you to try making a Happy List, utilize your free time at the office and I guarantee it will lift your mood if not make you grin.
Things to be happy about:
pretty or amusing sleeping masks for when the sun's pouring in
fleur-de-lis
mental files
the Greek alphabet
flirting for no reason
anticipating vacations
running down the dunes
senior proms
really thick eyelashes
being recognized for doing your own thing and respected for it
using the library's periodicals
pink and blue sunsets
sapphire = wisdom
having your cat come when you call her
vanity license plate and a college decal on the back window (my plates at home are OWU 2003)
cheese and fruit lighted by a candle in a wine bottle
late Sunday breakfast
when anyone can look at you and tell you are head-over-heels in love
first college weekend
sea otters
inability to leave the theater because your date insists on watching the credits
falling crazily, I'd-kill-or-be-killed-for-that-man in love
"Camp Granada" by Alan Sherman
plump floor cushions
a summer screen house
acting goofy
James Taylor, singer
coed dorms
the times when you feel you're the only two people in the world
looking irresistible
upper state New York
Illinois
feeling witty, confident and devastatingly feminine
princesses
kicking off your shoes and splashing your feet in a fountain
the position of your head as you bite a taco
Happy Desu Yo. Your turn. Dozo.