Doing Happy Things

I don't want to get into the details here, except to say that I've had to work really hard at being happy and engaged with life lately. Mostly, I feel like I'm not doing a very good job of it, but in the last few weeks, one thing in particular has helped: rowing. That's right; I've picked up rowing again. It's so nice to be on a boat in the water.* I had forgotten how rowing made me feel. I had forgotten that it makes me feel strong and confident and focused on nothing but the rhythm of my oars.

I had forgotten that doing things that make us happy . . . Make us happy. Or at least suspend sadness for a little while. I think that as we get older, we forget what makes us happy. Or we remember, but we overlook those things because we have boring-but-necessary adult things to do. And I think what we don't realize––what I didn't realize––was that by making happy activities a priority, we fill our souls with lightness, so that we are better able to handle the boring-but-necessary adult things. The stressful things. The scary things and the sad things.

Once I remembered that rowing makes me happy, I remembered other things that make me happy:

• Being outside
• Being near a body of water
• Baking
• Spending time with family, especially my nieces and nephews
• Making people laugh
• Having conversations with David
• Eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Taking evening walks
• Going to concerts
• Appreciating art

My challenge to you, dear readers, is to remember what makes you happy and spend some time doing those things!

*The Great Salt Lake, to be exact.

Thing I'm thankful for: finding my Nalgene water bottle