For years I have kept a list of all of the things in this world to smile about. Why- you may ask? Because it’s really easy to get upset about one thing, and then decide that this whole operation is kind of pointless. It’s really easy, like super easy. I’m running out of adjectives to describe how supremely easy it is to lose sight of what’s important. I myself feel like it’s all pretty pointless about 40% of the time. Whenever I feel down or bored and feel like, “Jesus- what’s the point?” I go to my journal, re-read the list of Happy’s (Cross a few off that no longer bring me any joy) and add a list of people, objects, places and experiences that bring me joy continuously. Sometimes they serve as a reminder to make sure I have more of those experiences, go to more of those places, see those people again, revisit those objects- and other times, just thinking about them is enough to cheer me up. Here is my list of Things That Make Me Smile. I hope you will start one yourself, because as I’ve said before, forgetting is easy.
- My Bed
- Skinny Pop
- Getting all my homework done in class
- Finishing a Book
- When someone compliments my hair
- Taking candid pictures that, for once, look good
- Photographs
- Carving Pumpkins
- Party City catalogues during October
- The color blue
- Dogs
- Pictures of Dogs
- Getting an “A”
- New Clothes
- Presents
- Friends (particularly my best friends <3 You girls know who you are)
- Family (mommies, daddies, the special bonds that come from siblings, etc.)
- Crew neck sweaters
- Fuzzy socks
- Watching Cats walk
- Eye contact
- Potatoes, in all their marvelous forms
- When your teacher says you have a good point
- Reading about social experiments
- Having intellectual conversations
- Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, ALL LEAVES
- Trees
- When your friend lives 1,744 miles away and they still make an effort to talk to you (:
- Pretty Christmas trees
- Houses decorated for Christmas- Christmas Lights
- Yankee Candles
- Bubble Baths
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers. ( Forever. Always. The Best.)
- Simon and Garfunkel
- The Beatles
- When my nails grow long (I’ve got a bad habit of biting)
- Freshly shaven legs
- Falling asleep instantly
- Good dreams
- The feeling after running
- Reading new books
- Reading old books
- Cheese fries
- When someone I care about compliments me
- When anyone compliments me
- Fun Facts
- The rainforest
- Lord of the Rings
- When people enjoy your company!
- Blue Gatorade
- My Grandparents
- VHS Tapes
- Photo albums
- Restaurants back home
- When my handwriting looks good
- Sweet and salty things
- Having my outfits picked out the night before
- French braids
- Big words
- Expanding my vocabulary
- When my skin is clear
- When I draw something well
- Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal
- When poems make sense on the first read
- Writing quality poetry
- The beach
- Warm water for swimming
- Ice cold water for drinking
- Hot showers
- Singing/Dancing in the shower
- Icecream sandwiches
- Babies
- Babysitting little kids
- Biscuits
- Thanksgiving
- Halloween
- “Moon River” by Perry Como
- Mint blue
- Pastel pink
- Grilled veggies
- Chicken noodle soup
- Cough drops
- Mac’n’cheese with bread crumbs sprinkled on top
- History
- It’s A Wonderful Life
- Cats
- Hair
- Mac Laptops
- Thinking about someone and then seeing them
- Sharing family traditions with close friends
- Gum
- Gobstoppers
- Musicals
- Watching movies alone
- Watching movies with someone
- Cuddling
- Fish
- When people lend me a dollar
- Sunsets
- Sunrises
- Warm summer nights
- Nights on the beach
- Snow on Christmas
- Downtown Chicago during the holiday seasons
- Skinny Dipping
- The Ocean
- Going to hotels with friends/ vacations with your friends
- Chinese food
- Peeing when you really really need to
- Songs
- Jazz
- Classical music
- Rock’n’Roll
- People watching
- Watching people dance
- Freaks and Geeks- particularly Jason Segal
- Crawlspaces
- Riding bikes
- Thinking about how silly life can be
- Using emojis (Yeah, I’m that girl)
- Hotdogs
- Cheeseburgers
- Ponyo
- Carefree dancing
- Water parks
- The last day of school
- The first day of school
- Beards
- Going to far away places
- Going to someone’s house for the first time
- Having a significant other
- Kissing
- Hugging
- Holding hands
- Spooning
- Rock climbing
- Learning a language
- New cars
- Warm jackets
- Shopping
- Scrapbooks
- Being warm and cozy
- First kisses that aren’t a total disaster
- Blankets
- Lots of pillows
- Drawing
- Apples with Peanut Butter
- Watermelon
- Performing
- Fridays
- SATURDAYS
- Sprite
- People who make you laugh/ Generally funny people. (We need to surround ourselves with these people)
- Eating
- Rolling down hills
- My Grandparent’s house
- Getting close to someone
- Having 100% Battery
- Old video game consoles and their games
- The sound of turning book pages
- When my period ends
- Going to the hair salon
- Christmas cookies (can you tell I enjoy Christmas?)
- Birthdays
- Giving presents
- Your favorite pair of shoes
- Jeans that actually fit well
- Meeting new people who you vibe with instantly
- Finishing essays
- Good hair days
- Good moods
- Beautiful names
- Munchkins
- My pets
- People who are beautiful in what they are
- Iced Coffee
- LIghters
- Smooth skin
- Listening to people talk
- Come on Eileen
- Perks of being a wallflower
- When people choose to sit next to me
- Lox & Bagels
- Pasta
- Noodles
- Tears for Fears
- Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Things they Carried by Tim O’brien
- Being inside when it’s raining
- Long phone calls
- S’mores
- Kept promises
- Slow dances
- Late mornings
- Cheek kisses
- Not awkward silences
- Eating when hungry
- Eating in general
- When people mean what they say
- Not giving up on something, just because it’s challenging or inconvenient
- Finding money you forgot you had
- When people share their food with me
- Lake Michigan
- Understanding
- Honesty
- Affection
- The sound of bugs on summer nights
- Knowing the right answer
- Being right
- Taking off my socks after a long day
- Driving without shoes
- Aux Cords
- Finding something you thought you lost
- When people remember me and details about me
- Discovering things
- Imagining impossible things
- Swimming in the deep
- Creating something entirely new
- Your hometown
- Realizing things
- Dreaming
- Little kids
- Midnight premiers
- The Hunger Games trilogy
- Petting dogs
- Sincerity
- Juice boxes
- “Movie moments”
- Having time to spare
- Good news
- Feeling helpful
- Taking walks
- Double sided tape
- Collages
- Blue hair
- The feeling of a rug beneath your feet
- Corn
- Shadow puppets
- Headphones
- Notebooks
- French toast, butter, and powdered sugar
- Flowers that smell nice
- Smell of food wafting through the kitchen
- Muffins
- 12 hours of sleep
- Eating the top of the cupcake first
- Cheesecakes
- Salads
- Doing your own thing
- Doughnuts
- Smooth, muscular arms
- Big hands
- Laughter at dinner
- Nice feet
- Heinz tomato ketchup
- Wedding dresses
- That one spot underneath the bridge
- Dressing up
- Stuffed peppers
- Chicken tenders
- The smell of cologne
- The smell of your mother’s perfume
- Popcorn from the movies
- Gummy bears
- Benjamin Phillip’s art
- Neil Hilborn’s poem “OCD”
- Jon Sand’s poem “Moons over my Hammy”
- Buttered toast
- Homemade sandwiches
- Pie (pumpkin, oreo, etc.)
- Disney movies
- Looking forward to something
- Washing out hair dye
- Organizing
- Chicago
- Potato pancakes
- Wearing a giant sweater
- Soda in bottles with sugar
- Barbecuing
- Knowing things
- Learning
- Doing well
- Pages filled with words
- Opening up to people
- The final bow on stage
- Baking
- Getting Mcdonalds
- Sharing the bed with someone
- Being well rested
- The feeling, right after a cry, when everything that makes sense
- Love
- Car rides
- Glitter
- Beavis and Butthead
- “Wild World” by Cat Stevens
- Getting things off my chest
- Fancy pens
- Polaroids
- Driving
- Guac & Salsa
- Mozzarella Sticks & all other Bar foods
- Blue flavored things
- Smell of a fresh can of tennis balls
- Scooters
- Tuna salads
- Being on time
- Hearing people talk about something they love
- The word “pink”
- Understanding
- Resolutions
- Journals
- Flipping through the pages of a book
- Pointing a fan at my face on a hot sticky day
- The way your voice sounds when you speak into a fan
- Pistachio icecream & cookies’n’cream icecream and all other icecreams
- Binder clips
- The pop of a tennis racket hitting a ball
- Giving kisses
- Eating bowls of popcorn
- Banana split sundaes
- Playing pretend
- Conversations that flow
- Spilling the beans
- Summer time, in all it’s glory
- Double rainbows
- Being naked
- The chill of lake michigan on a humid day
- When people remind you that they love you
- Cool sheets
- Sleeping without a shirt on
- My dog’s soft ears
- Funny urban dictionary definitions
- Elvis Presley
- Success Stories
- Having the answer
- Removing staples with a staple remover
- Feeling small
- Gel manicures
- Good talks with your parents
- When you find a random glitter on your skin
- Sharing the shower
- “Firsts”
- When people love you immediately, no questions asked
- Dreams about loving people you wouldn’t dare/couldn’t love in real life
- Hard boiled eggs
- Lefse
- Being on the same page
- When my dog comes to me during a storm
- Chocolate covered strawberries with whipped cream
- Climbing to the roof
- Natural prairies
- Country roads
- Starry nights
- Talks around a campfire
- The way the light plays on the surface of the water
- Goggles for swimming
- Being a kid
- French accents
- French films (can you tell I like france?)
- Homemade pizza
- Olympic gymnastics
- Floor pillows
- Feet in the sand
- Sub sandwiches
- Deep dish Chicago pizza
- Getting asked out on a date
- Getting invited to a party
- Rosy cheeks
- Surprises (the good kind)
- Brownie sundaes
- Surprise facetime phone calls
- Fresh haircuts
- Falling into bed after a long day
- When little kids lose their two front teeth
- Being friends forever
Can you tell I really like food? The list could go on and on, and why shouldn’t it? This life is precious and there are reasons to smile all around us. The list continues everyday, and I cannot wait to add to my personal list at home, and I hope you start your own list. Stopping my own list at 375 feels like I’m not doing the world justice, but in all reality, 375 things to be happy about is enough to read in one sitting, and thank you for reading this at all! Even writing this is another reason to smile. Lucky number 376. While feeling sad is a natural, cyclical process in all of our lives, it is easy to deal with everything when we remember that things aren’t so bad in retrospect. there are too many reasons to smile in this world, to spend too much time feeling down on oneself for all the not-so-great things. Choose happiness when the choice is there.
XOX,
Nina Codell
StableDiffusion
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