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.

1. My Bed
2. Skinny Pop
3. Getting all my homework done in class
4. Finishing a Book
5. When someone compliments my hair
6. Taking candid pictures that, for once, look good
7. Photographs
8. Carving Pumpkins
9. Party City catalogues during October
10. The color blue
11. Dogs
12. Pictures of Dogs
13. Getting an “A”
14. New Clothes
15. Presents
16. Friends (particularly my best friends <3 You girls know who you are)
17. Family (mommies, daddies, the special bonds that come from siblings, etc.)
18. Crew neck sweaters
19. Fuzzy socks
20. Watching Cats walk
21. Eye contact
22. Potatoes, in all their marvelous forms
23. When your teacher says you have a good point
24. Reading about social experiments
25. Having intellectual conversations
26. Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, ALL LEAVES
27. Trees
28. When your friend lives 1,744 miles away and they still make an effort to talk to you (:
29. Pretty Christmas trees
30. Houses decorated for Christmas- Christmas Lights
31. Yankee Candles
32. Bubble Baths
33. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. ( Forever. Always. The Best.)
34. Simon and Garfunkel
35. The Beatles
36. When my nails grow long (I’ve got a bad habit of biting)
37. Freshly shaven legs
38. Falling asleep instantly
39. Good dreams
40. The feeling after running
41. Reading new books
42. Reading old books
43. Cheese fries
44. When someone I care about compliments me
45. When anyone compliments me
46. Fun Facts
47. The rainforest
48. Lord of the Rings
49. When people enjoy your company!
50. Blue Gatorade
51. My Grandparents
52. VHS Tapes
53. Photo albums
54. Restaurants back home
55. When my handwriting looks good
56. Sweet and salty things
57. Having my outfits picked out the night before
58. French braids
59. Big words
60. Expanding my vocabulary
61. When my skin is clear
62. When I draw something well
63. Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal
64. When poems make sense on the first read
65. Writing quality poetry
66. The beach
67. Warm water for swimming
68. Ice cold water for drinking
69. Hot showers
70. Singing/Dancing in the shower
71. Icecream sandwiches
72. Babies
73. Babysitting little kids
74. Biscuits
75. Thanksgiving
76. Halloween
77. “Moon River” by Perry Como
78. Mint blue
79. Pastel pink
80. Grilled veggies
81. Chicken noodle soup
82. Cough drops
83. Mac’n’cheese with bread crumbs sprinkled on top
84. History
85. It’s A Wonderful Life
86. Cats
87. Hair
88. Mac Laptops
89. Thinking about someone and then seeing them
90. Sharing family traditions with close friends
91. Gum
92. Gobstoppers
93. Musicals
94. Watching movies alone
95. Watching movies with someone
96. Cuddling
97. Fish
98. When people lend me a dollar
99. Sunsets
100. Sunrises
101. Warm summer nights
102. Nights on the beach
103. Snow on Christmas
104. Downtown Chicago during the holiday seasons
105. Skinny Dipping
106. The Ocean
107. Going to hotels with friends/ vacations with your friends
108. Chinese food
109. Peeing when you really really need to
110. Songs
111. Jazz
112. Classical music
113. Rock’n’Roll
114. People watching
115. Watching people dance
116. Freaks and Geeks- particularly Jason Segal
117. Crawlspaces
118. Riding bikes
119. Thinking about how silly life can be
120. Using emojis (Yeah, I’m that girl)
121. Hotdogs
122. Cheeseburgers
123. Ponyo
124. Carefree dancing
125. Water parks
126. The last day of school
127. The first day of school
128. Beards
129. Going to far away places
130. Going to someone’s house for the first time
131. Having a significant other
132. Kissing
133. Hugging
134. Holding hands
135. Spooning
136. Rock climbing
137. Learning a language
138. New cars
139. Warm jackets
140. Shopping
141. Scrapbooks
142. Being warm and cozy
143. First kisses that aren’t a total disaster
144. Blankets
145. Lots of pillows
146. Drawing
147. Apples with Peanut Butter
148. Watermelon
149. Performing
150. Fridays
151. SATURDAYS
152. Sprite
153. People who make you laugh/ Generally funny people. (We need to surround ourselves with these people)
154. Eating
155. Rolling down hills
156. My Grandparent’s house
157. Getting close to someone
158. Having 100% Battery
159. Old video game consoles and their games
160. The sound of turning book pages
161. When my period ends
162. Going to the hair salon
163. Christmas cookies (can you tell I enjoy Christmas?)
164. Birthdays
165. Giving presents
166. Your favorite pair of shoes
167. Jeans that actually fit well
168. Meeting new people who you vibe with instantly
169. Finishing essays
170. Good hair days
171. Good moods
172. Beautiful names
173. Munchkins
174. My pets
175. People who are beautiful in what they are
176. Iced Coffee
177. LIghters
178. Smooth skin
179. Listening to people talk
180. Come on Eileen
181. Perks of being a wallflower
182. When people choose to sit next to me
183. Lox & Bagels
184. Pasta
185. Noodles
186. Tears for Fears
187. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
188. The Things they Carried by Tim O’brien
189. Being inside when it’s raining
190. Long phone calls
191. S’mores
192. Kept promises
193. Slow dances
194. Late mornings
195. Cheek kisses
196. Not awkward silences
197. Eating when hungry
198. Eating in general
199. When people mean what they say
200. Not giving up on something, just because it’s challenging or inconvenient
201. Finding money you forgot you had
202. When people share their food with me
203. Lake Michigan
204. Understanding
205. Honesty
206. Affection
207. The sound of bugs on summer nights
208. Knowing the right answer
209. Being right
210. Taking off my socks after a long day
211. Driving without shoes
212. Aux Cords
213. Finding something you thought you lost
214. When people remember me and details about me
215. Discovering things
216. Imagining impossible things
217. Swimming in the deep
218. Creating something entirely new
219. Your hometown
220. Realizing things
221. Dreaming
222. Little kids
223. Midnight premiers
224. The Hunger Games trilogy
225. Petting dogs
226. Sincerity
227. Juice boxes
228. “Movie moments”
229. Having time to spare
230. Good news
231. Feeling helpful
232. Taking walks
233. Double sided tape
234. Collages
235. Blue hair
236. The feeling of a rug beneath your feet
237. Corn
238. Shadow puppets
239. Headphones
240. Notebooks
241. French toast, butter, and powdered sugar
242. Flowers that smell nice
243. Smell of food wafting through the kitchen
244. Muffins
245. 12 hours of sleep
246. Eating the top of the cupcake first
247. Cheesecakes
248. Salads
249. Doing your own thing
250. Doughnuts
251. Smooth, muscular arms
252. Big hands
253. Laughter at dinner
254. Nice feet
255. Heinz tomato ketchup
256. Wedding dresses
257. That one spot underneath the bridge
258. Dressing up
259. Stuffed peppers
260. Chicken tenders
261. The smell of cologne
262. The smell of your mother’s perfume
263. Popcorn from the movies
264. Gummy bears
265. Benjamin Phillip’s art
266. Neil Hilborn’s poem “OCD”
267. Jon Sand’s poem “Moons over my Hammy”
268. Buttered toast
269. Homemade sandwiches
270. Pie (pumpkin, oreo, etc.)
271. Disney movies
272. Looking forward to something
273. Washing out hair dye
274. Organizing
275. Chicago
276. Potato pancakes
277. Wearing a giant sweater
278. Soda in bottles with sugar
279. Barbecuing
280. Knowing things
281. Learning
282. Doing well
283. Pages filled with words
284. Opening up to people
285. The final bow on stage
286. Baking
287. Getting Mcdonalds
288. Sharing the bed with someone
289. Being well rested
290. The feeling, right after a cry, when everything that makes sense
291. Love
292. Car rides
293. Glitter
294. Beavis and Butthead
295. “Wild World” by Cat Stevens
296. Getting things off my chest
297. Fancy pens
298. Polaroids
299. Driving
300. Guac & Salsa
301. Mozzarella Sticks & all other Bar foods
302. Blue flavored things
303. Smell of a fresh can of tennis balls
304. Scooters
305. Tuna salads
306. Being on time
307. Hearing people talk about something they love
308. The word “pink”
309. Understanding
310. Resolutions
311. Journals
312. Flipping through the pages of a book
313. Pointing a fan at my face on a hot sticky day
314. The way your voice sounds when you speak into a fan
315. Pistachio icecream & cookies’n’cream icecream and all other icecreams
316. Binder clips
317. The pop of a tennis racket hitting a ball
318. Giving kisses
319. Eating bowls of popcorn
320. Banana split sundaes
321. Playing pretend
322. Conversations that flow
323. Spilling the beans
324. Summer time, in all it’s glory
325. Double rainbows
326. Being naked
327. The chill of lake michigan on a humid day
328. When people remind you that they love you
329. Cool sheets
330. Sleeping without a shirt on
331. My dog’s soft ears
332. Funny urban dictionary definitions
333. Elvis Presley
334. Success Stories
335. Having the answer
336. Removing staples with a staple remover
337. Feeling small
338. Gel manicures
339. Good talks with your parents
340. When you find a random glitter on your skin
341. Sharing the shower
342. “Firsts”
343. When people love you immediately, no questions asked
344. Dreams about loving people you wouldn’t dare/couldn’t love in real life
345. Hard boiled eggs
346. Lefse
347. Being on the same page
348. When my dog comes to me during a storm
349. Chocolate covered strawberries with whipped cream
350. Climbing to the roof
351. Natural prairies
352. Country roads
353. Starry nights
354. Talks around a campfire
355. The way the light plays on the surface of the water
356. Goggles for swimming
357. Being a kid
358. French accents
359. French films (can you tell I like france?)
360. Homemade pizza
361. Olympic gymnastics
362. Floor pillows
363. Feet in the sand
364. Sub sandwiches
365. Deep dish Chicago pizza
366. Getting asked out on a date
367. Getting invited to a party
368. Rosy cheeks
369. Surprises (the good kind)
370. Brownie sundaes
371. Surprise facetime phone calls
372. Fresh haircuts
373. Falling into bed after a long day
374. When little kids lose their two front teeth
375. 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,