My Happy Book

Years ago, Mark and I were divorced. We remarried on New Years Eve several years ago and have FINALLY found our "happily ever after". It was a difficult road to go down, but I now see us sitting in our rocking chairs on the front porch and enjoying the grandkids' antics together. And it makes me VERY happy.

There was a time when the sailing wasn't very smooth. To say it was a rocky road would be an understatement. Divorce was difficult. Being a single mom of four little one's wasn't too easy. Leaving the kids at daycare and going to work every day sucked. Finances were a joke. Every day was a struggle and I remember being sad all the time.

I love to read. I make time to read every single day. I'm always in the hunt for a good book and somehow, I had found myself at Barnes and Nobles Bookstore. I was wandering around looking at the new books that had just been released and ran across a book by Barbara Ann Kipfer. It's titled 14,000 things to be happy about. The back of the book read: A quirky, compulsive, irresistible list of all the little things that make us happy. I opened the book and it was exactly as stated. It was a list.

I read:
ice cream sandwiches
red leotards
a baseball game going into extra innings
wet babies
Bugs Bunny
the beach in the fall

I smiled. I took the book to the register and purchased it. Within a couple of days I had read the book cover to cover. 612 pages of a list. Silly, I guess, but I needed to be reminded of the little things that bring happiness. That book changed my life.

I found myself thinking about that book all the time. I began to notice some of the things that were listed in the book and that those items brought a secret smile to my face.  Problem was, it was someone else's happiness. Some of the items applied to me, yet some didn't. On the list were items like: yarn lampshades. What the heck are yarn lampshades? True, some things I related to, but there were other items that left me wondering. I wanted to be reminded of things that made ME happy.

I went back to the bookstore and bought a cute book with blank pages. I began creating my own book. I wrote the title So Many Things to be Happy About on the inside cover. I put the book in my nightstand drawer and I wrote in it every single night.

I found myself changing. My nightmares lessened. The nights I cried myself to sleep decreased dramatically. My heart was lighter and I began to pay attention to my day again. I began to look for things I could write in my happy book. I spent more and more time looking at the good and less time focusing on the bad. I found happiness again. I was surrounded by it. It hadn't gone away. I had just forgotten to take note.

I don't write in my happy book as often anymore. I guess I don't need it as much as I had in the past. I feel like I have gotten back on track with myself. I still keep my book in the nightstand and every once in a while I open the pages and reminisce on my happy thoughts.

If you're feeling sad, lonely or have somehow lost your way, you just might need to rediscover your own happy thoughts. Get a notebook, a scratch pad or a blank book and put it by your bed. Take note of the happiness in your life. It just might change your world.