choosing happiness....

...that's our objective for today. this is how Kim put it..

Today's Challenge

What makes you happy? Make a list in your journal or on your computer… whatever works for you.

When you are feeling a little blue, a little uninspired, a little blah…  refer to your list…  It just may give you the boost you are needing.

....so, what makes me happy....

sunshine breaking through on a cloudy day...

babies! babies always make me happy, they don't have to be from my family (but that does make me especially happy) or belong to someone I know, I always smile when I see a tiny newborn. sweet, sweet innocence, memories of my own babies many years ago..sigh

sitting curled up in front of the fire, listening to the house settle down for the night, the sweet silence broken by the ticking of a clock and crackle of firewood..peaceful, safe and warm....happiness

watching my grown children follow their destiny and become happy well adjusted and caring adults..

watching my grandchildren do just about anything brings me a huge amount of happiness.....
...this boy, our youngest grandchild, makes my heart happy...

singing along with my favourite music, at the top of my voice (very badly I might add) while I'm driving...

an unexpected message from a special friend...

finding something that I thought was long lost...

lemon gelati ...oh my, now that's happiness...

walking with my camera...

the smell of new mown grass...

the bird that sings outside my bedroom window every morning...

seeing the sun rise...

being alive...

my mother knowing who I am (today she did for a fleeting few minutes)...

picking roses from my garden and having their sweet summer perfume drift through my house...

my friends from the northern hemisphere will laugh at this one but.....
watching the cold winter rain turn to big fluffy snowflakes for a brief few minutes, pure alchemy...
(it's also very special in my part of the world and doesn't last more than a couple of days at the most)

walking barefoot on the beach...

drinking hot chocolate on a cold winters day...

it seems there are lots of things that make me happy, I'd like to think that I choose to be happy but I'm sure that's not the case. I know that random things make me smile just the same way that random things make me cry...

perhaps I need to make more of an effort to 'choose' happiness, to wake in the morning and say out loud that I will be happy with whatever comes my way...now that made me smile 'cos I know it's not going to happen.....