Sometimes there are days when you can’t seem to get out of your funk, when all the negativity in your life seems to swallow you up. When those days happen, here are 20 things I like to remember to be happy about.

1. Having the laundry get done right before you take a shower, so the towel is still warm when you use it.

2. Coming home to your favorite ice cream -- because your roommate bought it for you during her last trip to the store.

Having people you love notice when you could use a pick-me-up never fails to cheer you up.

3. The first day that you feel better after you’ve been sick.

I swear that day is the closest I will ever come to feeling like I have superpowers.

4. Your first cup of coffee in the morning.

And the way the house smells when it starts to brew.

5. The sun coming out after it has been pouring all day.

6. The last page of a really good book.

7. When you realize you need to make a right turn too late and the person in the right lane lets you in.

Bless the drivers who pity the directionally challenged.

8. A drink of water when you are really really thirsty.

9. A hug from your little brother.

There are few people who have the ability to make you feel as unconditionally loved as your younger siblings do.

10. When you drive alone and get to listen to any song you want and sing as loud as you can.

This is one of the best forms of therapy, I swear.

11. Babies that you don’t know smiling at you in the grocery store.

12. The smell of fresh-cut grass.

13. The first time you drove alone.

This is one of the first times you experience total freedom.

14. Flipping over to the cold side of the pillow.

15. Warm soup on a cold day.

It doesn't matter if it's homemade or from a can, hot soup when you're cold is the best meal.

16. Finally having your ears pop after they’ve been plugged for a long time.

17. A good nap.

18. Eating cookie dough before you make the cookies.

Sometimes the cookies don't even see the inside of the oven because my family and I have eaten all the batter -- that is my favorite way to eat cookies, anyway.

19. A hot shower after a long day.

20. Thinking it’s Wednesday and then remembering it’s Friday.

Sometimes the world is a really awful place, and sometimes that fact hits you hard, repeatedly.

Sometimes it is hard to remember all the good things, because there are so many bad things taking up all the space in your head.

Sometimes it is OK to stop and remember to enjoy the little things, because the little things are everything.