What Makes You Happy?

What makes you happy? When it comes right down to it, it's the simple things that make me happy.

Sometimes I get caught up in the busy aspects of life and forget to notice the little things, the simple and easy things in life. When I do, I miss those opportunities to smile and to be happy. I notice that many people run around searching for those big ticket items to make themselves feel better. Fancy cars, expensive toys, jewelry, you name it: 'shopping therapy.' Whatever the escape may be, it's an escape that blinds you to that opportunity to notice the small pleasures.

Something I love is the laughter of children. I especially love the belly laugh of a small child, before they are self conscious. What I love the most is the sound of my own children's laughter. Their childhood belly laughs were wonderful. Their adult laughter, especially when they are laughing together warms my heart.

Luckily I have other small pleasures, since they no longer live at home. One is daisies. I love their sunshine smiles. They are joyful flowers. They come in all sizes, tiny as a fingernail others large enough to overflow my two hands. The daisy, above is a close up picture of one from my yard a year ago. It was about the size of a quarter.

Daisies come in many colours and types. My sister has a particular fondness for gerberas. However, white is my favourite. Some people love to see a of a field of tulips, which is very beautiful. I, however, a field or at least a picture of a field of daisies.

I think the one thing about small pleasures is that they actually aren't small at all. Whether they are daisies, children's laughter, the smell of the air after a summer rain, the colour of the sunshine when it shines through the blossoms of our plum tree, a puppy scratching behind its ear and toppling over since it doesn't have good balance, reading a good book on a winter day with the sun shining through, lying in the hammock in the shade on a warm summer day, snowshoing in the northern woods, the list goes on.
Simple things. I need to pay attention to those more.