Things That Make Me Happy

 

I recently read a bit about what can make you happy.

 

Gretchen Rubin shares these basic areas and I found that they are things that make me happy. 

 

Stepping through each one was interesting and also helped me gain some focus during this blooming month. 

 

It turns out that knowing about yourself is a good first step. 

This happens to be something that I have been working on as my work and life changed a decade ago. 

 

Who am I now becoming a quest worth taking on with some beginning answer coming along. 

Do you find that knowing who you are is intriguing to you? 

 

Sweet!  Let’s tiptoe through this one for a little more. 

 

I found that I like to maximize the strengths that others have and to learn new things every week. 

 

Each of these pieces seem to go with who I can choose to become next.

Another piece that I found is building connections.

Another piece that is on the website I found that is part of the things that make me happy is building connections and relationships with others.  

 

This seems natural for most of us. 

 

Saying hello and checking in with a text or phone call during the week. 

 

Creating time to smell the roses and lilacs.

Looking around to see bright white apple blossoms with a bee coming to visit. 

Talking around tables as we laugh and remember together. 

 

Relationships are where I can find my breath, my feet and then where I belong in this universe. 

 

Here is what happened recently that brought this to my heart. 

 

I was able to reconnect, again, with a friend who also knows several people in my community. 

 

We found time, actually crafted the time, to sit down together at a fun restaurant to talk for hours. 

 

Did we know that it would be a night of going over this much from our shared history and experiences? 

 

No, my friends, and I believe that is the point. 

We shared grief and joy and more.

We sat, shared grief and joy and more with each other.

 

I found myself sharing that I felt more at home in her universe than in the space I now was living in. 

 

That was a sudden truth that can only come when a friendship is in place. 

How grateful I am for this friend. 

 

Finally, there is this thought from Gretchen Rubin.

Creating happiness is done by building a life that reflects who we are. 

 

Sounds easy, eh? 

 

Sure, there are other pieces to this as you look at the other parts listed and yet here is what I have found. 

 

When I have been able to focus on the good around me it does not mean that the gnarly hard parts are not there around, as well. 

 

It does mean that I can still look at the good things, like meeting a friend or seeing a family member smile after a long week. 

 

Is there more? The answer is a yes for me!

Two more pieces that make me happy.

There are times when I look at two additional pieces that are things that make me happy. 

 

It seems that silence is one of the things that I love and can make me happy. 

 

Sitting on top of a mountain or on the north lawn is when I can hear birds chirp then the sound of wind whistle through the trees. 

 

A time to pause and be still. Wait, the sounds seem to say. 

 

Silence is when my heartbeat slows, the natural rhythm flows and I find myself tuning into the inner workings that get me going in a good direction. 

 

The things that make me happy also include what comes as the flow comes to the front of my mind. 

 

Words and things that need to be said have come with the silence. 

 

Truthfully, I didn’t even know that I had many words to say until I started writing. 

 

It was then that I found that some words are not meant to be silent, and it is good, better and lovely to have the three things above in place to be able to say them.

 

Who knew that knowing who I am, building new and having continued relationships in place and creating a life that reflects who I am is part of how I, for me, am able to say the words. 

 

Imagine that. 

 

What five things make you happy?  Perhaps now is the time to think about this.