“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.”

I have been on a quest for happy for much of my life. It seems almost ridiculous that a 24-year-old has anything to say about "much of her life," but it's true. When I was little, I would answer the standard "what do you want to be when you grow up?" question with a non-standard answer, "happy."  I like to think I was beyond my years in answering this way, but part of me feels a little sad for the younger version of myself. How was I not happy? I didn't grow up in foster care, I didn't battle any chronic illness, I wasn't in a bad financial situation, and I had, for the most part, what I needed.

Yet, I knew there was something more. And I still do.

I've read some of the books about happiness, peaceful living, de-stressing, etc. but it wasn't until I recently read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin that I felt real inspiration to make resolutions and change my life for the better.  

I spent many days of my past feeling that life wasn't fair and that I was missing something or missing out on something. These days, I feel happy a lot of the time. My aim is to increase the size of that particular slice of pie and feel happy most of the time.  I know that down time is inevitable, and some balance can be healthy, but I want to feel happy and I'm going to.

Part of the reason I am sharing my thoughts is to foster happiness since I really enjoy writing. I've been thinking about what I could blog about for a long time, and since I really have come up with nothing but can't resist the urge to write, this is what I have come up with.

Things that make me happy

Listening to music (Then, seeing it live)

Puppies (I'm human)

Traveling (Everywhere)

Reading (Mostly fiction, some business nonfiction...)

Watching baseball (Twins)

Drinking beer (Mostly Belgians and wheats)

Running (To get rid of the Belgians and wheats)

Making lists (How could you tell?)

Writing (Really, how could you tell?)

Shopping (Like it is my job)

Practicing yoga (It helps my mind)

Taking photos (Canon S95 gets it done)

Scrapbooking (I am a grandmother in training)

Watching television (I'm not ashamed)

Justifying things (By putting explanations in parentheses)

These are undoubtedly some of the things I will write about. Some more than others, and some in happy matrimony with each other.  For example, watching baseball and drinking beer are almost the same thing. However, I don't call it "drinking beer" if you're buying $8 Miller Lites.

Anyway, this is about the greater picture of happiness. It's also about the little things in life that make me happy. Robert Brault captured it perfectly - "Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Here is to the little things that make up the big things. (TWSS).