10 HAPPY THINGS
Lately I feel like I have just been down in the dumps. This pity party is raging hard, and sometimes it feels like there is no stopping it. I am deeply sorry to those of you who continue to read my blogs week in and week out (and really, really appreciate you). Y’all have been the real MVPs as of late, dealing with all of this negativity. One of my many goals with this blog was to become a more positive person, and over the past few weeks I have been the loser of all losers. However, it is never too late to turn things around! So, to get this positivity train back on the tracks, I have decided to write about ten things that make me happy. Hopefully this will remind me how blessed I am and give the reader a break from my constant spirals of negativity. So, let’s all take a nice deep breath of some positivity 😉
1. RUNNING
There are for sure days when the last thing I want to do is get up and lace up my running shoes. However, I am almost always in a better mood after I have gone for a run. The pounding of my feet creates a wonderful rhythm as I can feel the stress leaving my body. For thirtyish minutes, I don’t have to focus on the test I have coming up, or concocting a plan for the future. I can just release and enjoy the run.
2. DOGS
One of the biggest things I missed while I was at BYU was having a dog around. Despite the fact that my dogs tend to flee the room when I need them most, they bring me some of the happiest moments. Nothing comforts one more than forcing the basset hound to love you when you are sad. Plus, they ae always good for a laugh! Lulu maybe the crankiest dog I have ever met, but you can’t help but smile when she attempts to play fetch with herself, or when Sadie barks at her own reflection.
3. FAMILY
My family for sure has to endure my tirades of negativity the most, and yet they still love me (#truelove). I am so grateful that they are willing to put up with my constant complaints, and have the stamina to also pull me out of my bad mood. Whether it’s talks with my mom, jamming to Def Leppard with my dad, or mocking my parents with the stinker, my family is almost always able to help me see things in a brighter light. They are always good for laugh, and help me to always find the funny in a hard situation.
4. CHOCOLATE
I am just going to leave this one here. It really has no need for an explanation.
5. FRESHLY PAINTED TOENAILS
So, I seriously hate feet. I’m not sure if it comes from my dad being a podiatrist, or from the stinker constantly sticking his feet in my face as a kid, but I think feet may have been a flaw in the Lord’s plan. I seriously don’t even like my own feet. However, slapping a fresh coat of paint on my toenails always makes me feel like I have my life together, and makes looking at my feet a little more bearable. It also reminds me of all of the silly times I had painting my “adopted” sisters toenails, and that tends to bring a smile to my face (to read about those adventures, click here).
6. SNEAKERS
As was stated in the previous point, I hate feet. So, on the many occasions that my painted toenails are not up to par (#perfectionist), I’ve got to cover those bad boys up with some tennis shoes. Converse. Vans. Adidas. Seriously, I could wear a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content.
7. BAKING
Baking is one of my favorite hobbies. Seeing someone truly enjoy a cookie or pie that you have created is a feeling that cannot be described. That look they get on their face is something that truly makes me happy in this life (and those things are few and far between, as we have all witnessed). Serving others makes us happy, and since I don’t have very many serving skills, I am going to count forcing people to eat my treats as a service 😉
8. TALKING WITH MY BEST FRIENDS
Unfortunately, most of my best friends live what feels like four million miles away from me (one is even serving a mission in South America). However, when I finally get to see any of my best friends, it immediately puts me in a better mood. I can spend hours on end talking to anyone of these girls, and my spirits are immediately lifted. I could not have asked for greater friends in this life, and I hope I am able to bless them even half as much as they have blessed me.
9. THE GOSPEL
I know that this may seem a little cheesy, but my happiest times truly have either come about because of the Gospel, or have occurred while serving in the Gospel. Mission, church camps, temple service, and so many other blessings have all occurred because of the Gospel. Like any good things in life, being a member of the church requires effort on our part, and sometimes that effort is hard. Sometimes I really don’t want to get up to go to church in the morning, but I seriously cannot remember a time when I went to church and regretted it. Just like running, I am in a better mood after I have gone. This Gospel truly has brought me my greatest joys in this life, and I can never repay that debt.
10. MY PLANNER
Either I am running out of options (very likely) or I am kind of a sad person. However, we speak the truth here at Negative (N)ellie, and one of those truths is that my planner makes me happy. I love feeling organized, and being able to see that organization in paper form. Maybe it is because I don’t really have a plan for my life, and having stuff written down in my planner makes me feel like I kind of do 😉 Plus, the feeling of crossing off your to-do list in your planner is one that cannot be replaced.
Wow! Look at that! I somehow managed to come up with ten things that make me happy. I’ll admit, if you go back and look at each of these points in depth, there is a lot of negativity in there. However, there is some positivity, too, so I am going to call that a win! Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day crap we have going on, that we forget how blessed we truly are. So many of the things that made me happy on this list are simple things that I can easily access when I am having a rough day. A conversation or a quick run can turn my whole day around. How amazing is that? As I learn to focus on the things that make me happy more, I believe I can become a slightly more positive person. Maybe.