The Things That Make You Happy

I came across a site about a book called "14000 Things To Be Happy About" by Barbara Ann Kipfer. What an intriguing title! I searched out a little more information and was amazed by what I discovered. 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. Why would a six-grader 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 and 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!