Tammy a regular visitor to my blog inevitably with some very encouraging, amusing and /or incisive comments has this very nice post with the same title as this post. I had commented there – “You inspire me to write a list of the simple things in my life that give me great pleasure, and it has to start with my morning cup of freshly brewed tea with grated ginger in it that kick starts my day. Watch out for a blog post so that I don’t bore you stiff here!” And in her grand way, she responded – “you NEVER bore me sean! never. i already look forward to such a post!”
There it starts, such a little thing to say but which gives such great happiness!
Happiness has come to mean to be an outcome of some action. What one hopes for of course is to be in a permanent state of happiness which we all know simply to be impractical. One can therefore hope to get things in one’s life that will give the byproduct, happiness.
Last week was not exactly unhappy for me, but it did get me to muse about missing things I wanted and did not get. I must have hit some hidden button because my brother Arvind who rarely comments on my posts, mailed me that the moral of the story is not to get out of the house!
From the day before yesterday, little bits of happiness have been cropping up all the time! I was contacted by two people who I had not heard from in years wanting to reestablish contact, one person acceding to my request for some help for another friend, two visitors on Sunday and one yesterday. I have been getting mails and facebook messages galore and to add icing on these cakes, my mentee Pravin writes a post praising me to the skies which I do not wish to share here for obvious reasons and other nice things have been happening too!
I dug out an ancient infra-red lamp to give myself a heat treatment for a painful spasm and found that the lamp had finally given up its ghost. I mentioned this to Ranjan and Manjiree yesterday in the evening and this morning when I woke up I found a brand new one sitting atop my dressing table! What a way to start the day!
The other little things that give me a great deal of joy every day are, apart from the first mug of tea, my meditation and yogabhyas session, the morning news papers and the four crossword puzzles that I solve; regular interruptions by Chutki who dislikes being ignored for long; the mid morning coffee that Mangal brews for me as soon as she arrives and the lunch that would follow in a while. Post lunch siesta, afternoon mug of tea and books to keep me company till late in the evening, or instead, a matinee film show and a wind up session at the computer just before going to bed. The banter that I enjoy in the blog world and on facebook, has a special corner in my room for happiness. The greatest happiness of all these daily events are the times that I sleep. Unlike many of my friends who have problems, I sleep soundly and inevitably wake up refreshed.
Other joyful things happen without fail even when I go out and so to Arvind I say that aberrations like my last week come into our lives just to point out that we tend to take little bits of happinesses that we come across regularly for granted whereas we should be conscious of them and be grateful as well. And, I do not go out all that much anyway!
Can you think of all those little bits of happiness that we take for granted?
What are the little bits of happiness for me? They are sunshine slanting through the office window, someone who is willing to discuss a book I’ve read, having another book or two or three waiting to be read, and a grandchild texting “I love you, Grammie.” Those bits are realizing that I haven’t needed my cane to walk across the yard and I haven’t fallen while forgetting to pick up my cane while walking outside! Those bits are often experienced putting together lunch with my husband while we debate politics from our different sides of the political spectrum, but then laughing together at something we agree is outrageous. Those often missed bits of happiness are found when mastering something new on the piano, writing for an hour with the words flowing freely. It’s anticipating a day I’ll spend with one of my daughters.
Brilliant.
I. LOVE. YOUR. LIFE.
ha!
uh oh. does that mean i was yelling? LOLOL!!!
oh no. you do not disappoint.
give chutki a hug from me. those interruptions i can see … you think of as dear. and dear they are.
you’re a scholar a mentor a humorist a connoisseur of life rummy!
YOU just make me happy! LOLOL. great snoopy hug dear friend.
tammy j recently posted..little bits of happiness
I like you Tammy. You give my ego such boosts that even the boosts given by Pravin pale in comparison. Thank you.
Wait – they snuck into your room while you were sleeping and left the lamp and you didn’t know until you woke up?
I am a HUGE believer in regularly reminding myself of all the little things in life that bring me peace, joy or contentment.
Secret Agent Woman recently posted..Ghost post.
Yes. When they go out in the evenings, I leave my bedroom door open so that the dog can come in and check that i am alive. They would come in and shut it till they go to sleep and on that evening, they bought the lamp and left it in my room to surprised me in the morning.
Yep, the secret of happiness starts with awareness of all the good things in our life.
“The secret of happiness is to ask yourself every day,
1) What’s good about my life?
2) What needs to be done?
3) How can I get this done and enjoy the process?”
Cheerful Monk recently posted..Yay, Happiness!
Agreed.
About not going out much — it seems to me that your proposed big trip this year will be an exception. 😉 Have you started to plan it? I used to love making plans.
Cheerful Monk recently posted..Yay, Happiness!
Yes. The plans, informing the people concerned etc are all over. Dates and visas besides arranging the funds is left.
it depends 🙂
an example today, 2 bits that came under my radar turned it into a bad day…one bit is still in the bad arena
but one bit went from anger that I had been ripped off to – I could resell the box it came in after I have refurbished it into distressed shabby chic mode AND then later I found out that said delivery-person had failed in his duty to deliver all the pieces I bought on-line! Seller said if her partner had been a courier she would have sacked him
I await the rest of the package either tomorrow or Friday…(art stuff if you wanna know)
Cathy in NZ recently posted..Workroom Done
Yes Cathy, all yin or all yang will make for very dull living!
Hey Rummy,
I’m a happy person by nature (to me happiness is embracing life as it presents itself with all its imperfections, its ups and downs; so I can actually say that I’m happy). Neuroscience says unhappiness is a choice (unless you suffer from clinical depression), so why not choose to be happy?
After reading your post I conclude you are a happy person, period. 🙂
It’s definitely an honour to be your friend and be part of your world.
Cheers
Max Coutinho recently posted..Quick Notes: Japan & Middle East
Thank you Max. I am a happy person indeed and I have always known that you were one too.
I am happy to wake up each day, anything after that is a bonus!
Grannymar recently posted..Pay It Forward
Ditto!