I was reading an old Chatelaine magazine today in the waiting room of my mom’s eye specialist. There was a full article on being happy, and a bullet-pointed list of the things that happy people do to keep themselves happy. I read it skeptically, but I figure, well, there’s no harm in doing some of these things. I have been, after all, pretty miserable for a long time now.
There was the obvious one which said to get exercise. Sure, no problem. Another thing they recommend we do is list a couple of things that went right and things that I enjoyed every day/week. Seems simple enough. Except on weeks where my laptop unexpectedly dies when I’m trying to write a paper, I discover I owe more money to cover the cost of incidental fees for class, I get into an auto collision that’s not my fault but that I could be blamed for because there were no witnesses, etc… [and OMG does "etc" really mean "et cetera"], it’s hard for me to dig through and find the things that went well. I have this sneaking suspicion that they’re numerous but tiny, including such things as “I ate” and “I woke up”, and that that’s why I can’t find them. They’re such normal parts of every day that it’s hard to give them any credit as being something worth being happy about.
1. An associate called me into her office and with all seriousness asked me to inspect her outfit.
2. I cooked enough food to get me through this week, and it’s some of my favourite dishes!
3. I had a refreshing chat after work with a co-worker, and she has invited me to come up North at her family’s cottage because I seem like I need to get away.
Each of these put a big smile on my face. I guess today wasn’t so bad a day.