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Thursday, July 29, 2010

14,000 Things To Be Happy About


I came across a site about a book called "14000 Things To Be Happy About" by Barbara Ann Kipfer. The title intrigued me, so I investigated further. What I found out amazed me. Barbara started keeping a list of things that made her happy when she was in the sixth grade, and continued adding to her list for the next twenty years! She started recording her list in a little spiral notebook, which she later replaced with large notebooks and she finally graduated to a computer. What strikes me the most is that a six-grader would start keeping a "happy" list. I wonder what went through her mind. What gave her the idea to keep this list? And how interesting that she continued to do so for the next twenty years! Her list grew to 14,000 things. Her list has now been published into a book. The entire book is simply made up of her lists - page after page of lists of things that have made her happy through her childhood, her teen-age years and her adulthood. Interestingly, the author says that she now uses her own list to cheer herself up on a "grey day" or when she wants to plan a fun thing with her son. I love this quote from Barbara Ann Kipfer: "Happiness comes from noticing and enjoying the little things in life". Noticing the things that make you happy and appreciating them . . . . it's a good thing!

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