Things That Make Me Happy

14 Jun 2024 | ~3 minute read

I saw this post from Dave Rupert asking what makes people happy. I answered it quickly, but figured it would be good to share more.

I've been in a bit of a slump lately. Work has been..."challenging" and things are busy at home, so I've had very little time for me. When the chips are down, I'm the kind of the person that tends to focus on the negatives and ultimately make their mood worse. I'm pretty good at pulling other people out of a bad place, but I'm really bad at doing it for myself.

Anyway...seeing Dave's post and quickly replying, I realised things aren't as bad as they seem - there's lots of things in my life that I enjoy. So I thought I'd write a longer post here with more of the things that make me happy.

Here we go...

• My dogs - just everything about my dogs makes me happy. They're a true joy in my life.
• Sitting and watching my fish go about their business in their tanks.
• When the kids say something silly or funny that makes me belly laugh.
• Those hugs my wife gives me. You know the ones; where it's quiet and you both let out that little sigh of contentment.
• Mowing the grass and being out in the sun.
• Watching the chickens go about their silly business. Being locked in the coop isn't quite so fun though. 😂
• Getting an email from a reader asking me a question, or just telling me they enjoyed what they read.
• Choosing a watch every morning with my youngest son.
• Constantly tweaking this site and adding new features.
• Going for a coffee with people from work and talking about stuff that's totally unrelated to work.
• Music. Gah, music. It brings me so much joy. Music is so fucking emotive.
• Getting into bed after a long day. Ah, that feeling is the best.
• Getting away from it all with my family.
• Spending time in my garage fixing/maintaining various things with engines, like the lawn mowers, or my motorbikes.
• Riding my motorbikes.
• Talking to other bikers about motorbikes.
• Listening to a good audiobook while driving.
• Reading a book or RSS feeds before I go to bed.
• Those rare occasions where I have time to go up to the hammock with a beer and read in the sun.

Clearly there's a lot for me to be happy about, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Next time I feel myself going into one of my slumps, I'm going to pull this post up and give it a read.

What makes you happy? Email me using the button below, or better yet, write a reply on your blog.

• Fun