
This month has been rough, no doubt about it. It seems to be the winter from hell, as far as germs are concerned. Since the semester started a month ago, I’ve had two separate stomach bugs, a strep and sinus infection combo, and now a cold. And it’s not just me–my family members and schoolmates with normal immune systems have been sick almost as much! So what are we to do? Well we could dwell on our misfortune. We could freak out about the Petri dish in which we must live our daily lives (and trust me I have). But a monk from Vietnam I’ve been reading recently might have a better idea; in Peace is Every Step Thich Nhat Hanh talks a lot about mindfulness. At a really basic level, I think of mindfulness as noticing the beauty and little blessings all around us every day. So this week I made a list of 100 of those little things that make me happy.
- Random 60 degree days in the middle of winter #Virginia
- Opening a new tube of toothpaste
- Waking up without a headache
- Being called “aunty randa” (by my niece- from anyone else that would be weird)
- The space heater in my room
- Chocolate
- Purring cuddles from my kitty
- Purple and orange sunsets
- Not having to be on antibiotics
- My flannel sheets- so cozy
- My flying pig pj pants
- Having time to read for fun
- Finishing a long reading for class that seemed like it would never end
- Class being cancelled
- Goodbye/Goodnight kisses from nieces
- Family movie nights/ infusion nights
- Acing an assignment
- Texts from my parents, always politely signed Love Dad/Mom at the bottom so I know who they’re from
- Family dinners
- Getting a chance to play the piano
- Being treated by a doctor as an equal partner in my care
- Walks
- Feeling my room get lighter in the early morning when I can’t sleep
- Corny jokes- especially my dad’s
- Pictures of lighthouses
- The sound of rain at night
- A cup of hot cocoa
- Coloring
- Birds singing/ chirping
- Baby/ toddler giggles
- Finding a great parking spot
- Autumn leaves
- The smell after a spring rain storm
- Getting a great night’s sleep
- Listening to scores from my favorite movies (HP, LOTR, Hunger Games, etc)
- Parks and Rec
- Making others laugh
- Deep conversations with people I care about
- Hot showers
- Getting my back to pop
- Finding a favorite pen and then writing with it
- Learning something new
- Writing on the thick, smooth side of the notebook
- An empty laundry basket
- An empty sink
- Having special chocolate in a secret chocolate stash
- Stealing chocolate from my dad’s “secret” chocolate stash
- Fresh mangoes and pineapples
- Getting through my entire To Do list
- Sweatpants and hoodies
- Finishing a bottle of antibiotics/ steroids/ other loathed medicine
- When anyone, especially a professor says “as it were”
- Quoting favorite tv shows/ movies/ books whether or not they are actually applicable to the situation
- Being greeted by one or more wagging tails at the door
- Cold nose kisses from my cat that often jerk me awake at night (I think she thinks it’s funny)
- Having a fire in the fireplace (and therefore having an actual fire place)
- Remembering what I’ve been trying to remember that’s been driving me crazy
- Putting on a clean pair of socks
- Remembering everything I needed at the grocery store
- Freshly changed sheets
- Having no copay
- My cat socks
- Spontaneous study breaks when a niece or two or three escapes their parents and wanders into my room
- Every day, hour, minute I’m not sick or in a lot of pain
- A clean and organized work space
- When I know just what to write
- Finishing an essay
- Eating solid food without pain/nausea
- Pulling out the needles at the end of an infusion
- Waking up and knowing I don’t have to go anywhere that day
- Getting to go to church on Sunday
- Not having to rush in the morning
- Doing something outside my comfort zone (it’s a very small zone)
- Alone time
- Feeling good enough to work out
- Waking up without an alarm clock
- When a medicine has no bad side effects– oh wait that doesn’t happen… When a medicine has relatively few bad side effects…
- Cozy sweaters
- Reading a good poem
- Stepping on crunchy leaves
- Feeling my kitty at the foot of my bed when I turn over in the night
- Pictures of Christ
- Skyping/Face Timing the parentals on Sunday
- The smell of brownies baking (or any goody really)
- Getting a big glob of mucus out of my chest or sinuses
- Not coughing (remember I had whooping cough earlier this year so the last few months not coughing has been the cherished exception)
- When I catch someone doing something silly because they think they’re alone
- Anything Harry Potter
- The abridged version of Les Mis (so much easier to readdddd)
- Old fashion soda bottles
- Miniature pigs (I will have one someday!)
- Documentaries/ books about inspiring people
- Psych and Monk being on Amazon Video now
- Warm clothes fresh from the dryer
- Sunshiny days
- Watching lightning during a thunder storm (if it hasn’t already given me a migraine that is)
- Naps
- Christmas lights
- Finding a good song on the radio
- Jar tops that go clicky-clack

Dad’s “secret stash”

Bestower of nose kisses

Flying pig pjs and kitty socks #thuglife
I love your list. Thank you for posting it!
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