Happiness

What makes me happy?

First let's define happiness. According to Wikipedia, happiness is an emotional or affective state that is characterized by feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction. This suggests that happiness can derive from anything, anything that makes you feel enjoyment or satisfaction. Therefore the sources for happiness are endless, yet how come there are so many unhappy people.

I would say that we all strive for happiness in life. That is the driving force for living. Whether we strive to be rich, beautiful, famous, married, or successful, it's all for the sake of happiness. We all have different views and beliefs as to what we think will make us happy. Unfortunately, we allow external factors dictate our happiness. We accept other people's thoughts and opinions control our state of mind. Obviously, being happy is subjective. No one can define your happiness but yourself. I believe finding happiness is simple. Life itself equals happiness. We complicate our lives with ideas and fantasies of how it's supposed to be rather than enjoying what it is. Happiness is less about what you want and more about being happy with what you have (damn that was good, that should be a quote). Here's one I stole from Christian's myspace header: It is what it is…it cannot be more than that. Look around you, enjoy what it is. Choose to be happy! Life is good!

So for me, what makes me happy? I find my happiness from the little things in life. Oh and before I continue on my source of happiness, it goes without saying that Mathew and all details pertaining to him emanate an enormous amount of JOY in my life. His laughter, his smile, even his tantrums make me happy. I love to see him eat and fidget with his teeth. It makes me smile to see him play with Harley. His hugs and kisses, even his slaps on my chest make me smile. I can go on with endless accounts of how Mathew makes me happy. So for the sake of this blog, Mathew will be a given. So besides the love of my life, what makes me happy? My first response to my friend was "rainbows, puppies, and sunshine." And while that was a joke, it is true. lol.

So here are some of my resources for happiness (the little things in life)
(in no particular order and in no way a complete list):

Loving and being loved
Hugs
The Beach
Sunsets
Natural earthly beauties (waterfalls, lakes, birds singing, etc)
Cotton candy at amusement parks
Popcorn at the movie theater
Eating ice cream in the park
Playing in the rain with Harley (my dog)
The sound of children's laughter
The smell of vanilla
Baking
Good Wine
Savoring gourmet food
Roller coaster rides
Hockey games
Tailgating
Music
Dancing
Singing out loud
Reading a good book
My comfy down suede throw
Good conversation
Friends
Chocolate
Writing
Drawing
Trees
The Moon
Shopping (when I have $$$)
Working out
Long drives
Long walks
I'm pretty simple. I like most everything. I'm willing to discover, try, and experiment new things. I choose to be happy in life. That's not to say things don't make me sad, cry, depressed, or hurt, but my overall perspective in life is positive, hopeful, and happy! I'm the girl that makes lemonades when life hands her lemons.

So what makes you happy?

Before I go, let me leave you with a few quotes I just found about happiness:

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~ Frederick Keonig

The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be. ~ Marcel Pagnol

Some pursue happiness - others create it. ~unknown

Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them. ~unknown

Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections. ~unknown