10 Happy Things

Clea tagged me in her blog note about 10 things that make her happy. I had a disturbing revelation when I read this; I've been so worn out lately I haven't given much thought to things making me happy. Therefore, I had no choice. I sat myself down and wrote down the first 10 things that popped into my head.

MICHAEL - I met Michael in the fall of '96 as a result of buggy (see a few posts ago). There is some debate about what our actual first date was. That does not matter much, we have been practically inseparable for the past thirteen years. It would take pages to write all the things about Michael that make me happy so I'll just keep it simple, I love Michael.

LEAH - The product of happiness is more happiness. Leah has not been with us too long yet but she easily made her way to the top of the happiness list. I think it has something to do with the unconditional love which you don't truly understand until you're a parent. Of course, I'm sure I'll learn a lot more about it in years to come.


PHOTOGRAPHS / PICTURES - That old phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is true. I like to see what people manage to catch on film. I like to look at old pictures that bring back good memories. I also enjoy to seeing the world through another person's eyes and learning about that person from their viewpoint. I really enjoy looking at the work of all my talented friends, I have a lot of them.

DARK CHOCOLATE - What can I say, it's true. It's so true that we actually made a party around the idea of eating a sheet of dark chocolate bark.


CLOUDS - They have made me happy my entire life. One of the most enjoyable, relaxing, activities is looking into the sky and finding cloud shapes. I enjoy finding cloud shapes so much I've even found animal shapes among the clouds we painted on Leah's wall. I also like clouds because they protect my fair skin from the sun a bit. Clouds on race day make me happy.

GOING OUTSIDE - I have always enjoyed being outside. I try to do something outside every day. I was that kid who tried to convince the teacher we should have class outside every time it was nice. Lucky for them, we grew up in Rochester NY and the weather is not always nice there.

WINNING - This might not be the most humble one on the list but it's true. I like to win, I don't like to loose. I like to win so much I make up stupid competitions just for the opportunity to win. I need to make up stupid events because I'm not as smart or athletic as many of my friends. I'll never win a spelling bee and I certainly won't ever win an Ironman.

FRIEND ENCOUNTERS - It makes me happy when I unexpectedly run into a friend. It always feels good when this happens because you have a chance to catch up with someone. Random encounters are almost always enjoyable. There's something special about realizing you can still run into a friend in such a big world. The stranger the place, the happier it is. It's great to run into someone when you're on a trip outside the country or on a bad day when you need a friendly face to make you smile.

SMILES - Those things are contagious. How could you not feel happiness when someone smiles. A friend smiling at you during a 6 am workout, A random cashier at Whole Foods wishing you a good day, or your baby who does not in realize what a smile is - they are all good!

LAUGHING - Even better than smiles is the ability to make someone laugh. There was a guy who worked at the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle that used to tell jokes to all the customers. One day we were behind an old lady who told him, "You are so humorous." To this day, the scratchy old voice and the cashier still make us laugh, no matter what type of day we're having.

So there it is... my list of 10 happy things. Apparently I'm supposed to tag 10 people to write their own list. I'm not convinced there are actually 10 people who read this blog, at least not 10 people who are willing to admit they read this blog.

I have set the goal of getting 10 people to write back a comment about something that makes them happy. If that happens, I win, and therefore I would be happy :)