For week 8 we were asked to think about what makes us happy and what makes us unhappy. For me it is a double edged sword. Spending time with my family and doing things for them makes me happy…but if I try to do too much or don`t have enough “me” time then I can get unhappy pretty quickly. I am also unhappy if I don`t get enough sleep. I thought about how to approach this and decided to write a list of 100 things that make me happy…I didn`t actually stop at 100…in fact the list is still going but for today I will list 100 things.
Some of these things are BIG things. Others are very small.
It would be easy for me to do one of these things everyday. I have done one of these things or more everyday for the last week and instead of just doing it I have thought about how and why it makes me happy and am also grateful that I found the time to do it but also that while I was doing it I made the connection between happiness and the thing that happened/I did.
I also decided to keep a gratitude journal for a week or so- It is still going now. It is mainly small things I write down but they do make me smile. At the end of this I will share one or two things I wrote for each day that I was grateful for.
My list is not in any order- I wrote as things came to me.
1. Toddler giggles
2. Blogging and blogs
3. Holidays away from home {2 or more nights!}
4. Reading with my boys
5. Reading for myself
6. Coffee dates with friends
7. Finishing a hot coffee {while it is still hot!}
8. Taking photos
9. Flowers- giving and receiving
10. Skype chats with my family
11. Skype chats with friends
12. Playing board games
13. Veggie patches
14. Lists
15. Post its
16. Smiling at strangers
17. Decluttering
18. A clean house
19. NZ Sauv
20. Chocolate
17. Sunny days
18. Walks around our neighbourhood
19. Weekends
20. Keeping a gratitude ournal
21. Shun coming home early from work
22. Watching TV with Shun
23. Smell of fresh bread
24. Looking through old photos
25. Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean food
26. Journalling
27. Tot School
26. Learning about Montessori
27. A Montessori environment
28. New books
29. FWC
30. Going for a jog
31. Scrapbooking
32. English playgroup {Chiba Peanuts rock!}
33. Noah`s words
34. Watching Shun laugh and play with the boys
35. Meeting and connecting with inspiring people
36. A day to myself
37. Salad for lunch
38. Losing weight
29. Baito {Part time work}
30. Soup
40. Karaoke
41. Good fitting jeans
42. Long floaty dresses
43.Receiving personal mail or packaes
44. Online shopping
45. Sightseeing around places I have never been to before
46. Watching my boys love on each other and develop a strong bond
47. Baking
48. Watching favourite TV shows
49. Overseas travel {Oh how I miss you!}
50. Playdates with friends with kids
51. Learning something new
52. Laughing til I think I will pee my pants
53. Facebook, Pinterest etc
54. Friends met online who turned into RL friends as well
55. Catching up with old friends {primary school mini catch up planned for early April catching up with gfs I have known since I was 4!}
56. Family time outside and away from technology
57. Party planning
58. Being on time and punctual {and others who are also so}
59. Trips to the zoo or aquarium
60. Shion`s toothy grin and Noah`s cheeky sideways smile
61. Going to the cinema
62. Date nights with Shun
63. House interior idea planning
64.Mexican food
65. Strawberries
66. Reading inspiring quotes {and making note}
67. Home facials
68. Massages
69. Sex
70. Toys with no batteries
71. Trying a new recipe and having it be a success
72. Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast- perfect weekend breakfast {that reminds me so much of childhood}
73. Happy childhood memories
74. Storms
75. A good haircut
76. Giving someone a present
77. Sleep ins
78. Going somewhere totally new
79. Painted toenails, manicures and pedicures
80. Christmas
81. Hope
82. Stonefruit
83. Discovering something great about the area I live
84. Playdoh
85. Making someone else happy {especially my kids or husband!}
85. The SYL12 challenge – have loved writing down goals, mission statements, happiness list and doing a vision board
86. Birthday cake
87. Saving money
88. Picnics
89. Achieving long term goals {or short term ones!}
90. Cherry blossoms
91. Bubbles
92. New dresses or clothes
93. Hula hooping
94. Chick flicks
95. Quilts
96. Kichijoji
96. Sleeping kids
97. Pandora charm bracelet
98. Cuddles
99. Learning new words {in any language}
100. Having someone say I love you and also saying it to others.
At last count the list was over 130 things- of course some BIGGER things that make me happy did not necessarily make the list but I tried to keep the things simple.
I started writing the gratitude journal on Feb 21. Here is one or two things from each day.
21st Feb
I am grateful for early bedtimes after a long day and that my kids love pasta as much as I do. Grateful for modern technology that allows me to skype with my mum.
22nd Feb
I am grateful for friends living relatively close by- coffee, banana bread, playdates and chats and getting beautiful birthday flowers from said friend!
23rd Feb
I am grateful for long naps, skype chats with friends and for the weather fining up in the afternoon so we could go outside.
24th Feb
I am grateful for pay day, positive parenting paying off and my oldies English class!
25th Feb
I am grateful for making it to well over 100 things that make me happy and for weekends and a day with no yelling!
26th Feb
I am grateful for a mini sleep in, discussing future plans for the new house and how close we are getting into moving in and for belated birthday cake with family.
27th Feb
I am grateful that while it is tough to have kids so close in age at times that they have a very strong bond and often find fun things to do together by themselves- today it was using the car ramp and watching them share the cars back and forth, giggle and “chat”. I am grateful for them!
28th Feb
I am grateful for cadbury chocolate which I can find relatively close to my house {and tim tams too!}. Grateful that both my boys love the water and bath time because bathing them by myself almost everynight would be difficult if they didn`t!
29th Feb
So far today I am grateful that despite the snow day we have had fun inside- we did playdoh, baked brownies and watched a little bit of Thomas the Tank Engine while I made quesidillas for lunch. We ate while listening to some Vivaldi!
Why not list 10 things that make you happy in the comments or perhaps something you are grateful for today- I guarantee that it will give you a positive lift!
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to find my way in a country that is not my own! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son {Shion} in January 2011- yes they are just over 12 months apart so life is a little insane with two toddlers underfoot. I am working hard at raising them to be curious, confident, bilingual and happy kids.
Am I the only one who noticed that sex was number 69? Did you do that on purpose, Lulu?? Lol!
Anyway, I love these kinds of lists soooo much, I agree thinking about things that make you happy or feel grateful can singlehandedly make your day better! I also like the idea of the grateful journal
Anyway, here is my 10 things that make me happy mini-list:
1. Tatsuya! Just everything about him… His kindness, patience, laugh, and his sweet face X3
2. Funny/cute things my students say
3. My families… Both my own and my in-laws
4. Fashion, especially when I can put a cute outfit together for the first time and it makes me look CUTE
5. Making lists (and then crossing everything off!)
6. Doing the budget and keeping my finances organized… Makes me feel relaxed and in control
7. Busting a gut laughing with friends… Especially if it is over dinner and drinks!
8. Tokyo… the (other) love of my life!
9. Watching TV/movies with Tatsuya… It makes me feel so connected to each other and also to each other’s cultures. Especially satisfying since it wasn’t something we could do when we first started dating since our respective language skills weren’t yet up to snuff
10. Stand-up comedy
11 (because I don’t want to stop, haha): anything that lets me be creative/artistic… Cooking, sewing, drawing, interior decorating, styling… And also teaching children!!
Oh, I could so go on! I might have to just write it down for optimal satisfaction
thanks for the exercise!
Love your list – i love many of those things including NZ sauv, your favourite breakfast, journaling and board games.
I am grateful for a quiet house and my bed as I am exhausted tonight and my husband has not come home from work yet (10pm) – With me on my own I usually stay up very late on the net, but tonight I am listening to my body and going to bed after i hit post for this!
I was laughing at the sequence of messages followed by sex followed by toys with no batteries. I don’t have a very clean mind, but I didn’t notice that sex was 69.
My list…
1. little dogs
2. books
3. getting to play games when I teach- kids are so much fun and they get so much out of it
4. rain- I love the sound, the way it softens the colors of the mountains, the way it makes me happy to be home and inside
5. remembering a new kanji
6. getting mail from the US
7. Karaoke
8. my community choir that is full of obachans and ojiichans
9. Turning on the TV and randomly finding out a good movie is on. Last week was Shakespeare in Love and two weeks ago was The Princess Bride!
10. When my husband laughs at my jokes, even when they are corny. Especially because they are usually in English which means not only does he have my humor, but his comprehension is good enough to understand things like sarcasm!