Spreading Joy

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}}}

The brightness of the moon lights up the blackest sky. The fullness of the moon illuminates everything with such softness. That soft, calming effect leaves me gazing with awe each time there’s a full moon. The light of the moon transforms the dull darkness into brilliance – even in the fog!

The moon is majestic, handsome and simply glorious when it is full. The brightness dances across the dark sky – perfect, whole and stunning. This always reminds me that there is always light in the darkness and that shadows are not always a bad thing. I’m also reminded that even with clouds hanging around, the light from the moon is amazing to behold.

Then I wonder. Am I that kind of light? Amazing to behold, when the clouds are looming overhead? Do I continue to rise – slowly and steadily above the clouds so that I can illuminate everything around me? Or, when my clouds are hanging low, is the light suppressed, does gloom abound?

The skies will be pitch dark, the clouds will stretch across the sky but the moon will still give off its brilliant light! May I always remember to shine like the moon in the dark, to give beautiful moonlit hugs, to always illuminate those around me.

Moonlit Beauty….may you always shine brightly, even in the dark!

I just like to know these things – maybe it helps me to remember they are a real person with real feelings or maybe, just maybe it satisfies my curiosity problem. Either way, I like finding out things about people.

In honor of that, here are some things about me. I’m just keeping it real and they are totally in a random order. Just as they pop into my head. You might want to check back from time to time as I’m sure I’ll add things to it.

More Recent as other above was taken in 2006