What makes you happy?

[UNCGrad]

I've had a wonderful text exchange with my college-grad daughter. It's been a nice moment, and I'm making it count.

Made me think for a thread: What makes you happy?

It can be the smallest moment, or biggest, whatever. But I think we need more good in the world, and your good thing might help another.

What makes you happy?

 

[Gym Beam]

I live behind an elementary school and it never fails to make me smile when I hear the kids yelling and playing throughout the day. Such a wonderful natural soundtrack.

 

[Bubbler]

When I read the question, I see ...

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

I'll also go with a daughter-related one.

A few weeks ago, during the shutdown, talked to my daughter and asked her what she did over the weekend (she lives about 3 hours away, in a college town). She said she spent a good chunk of Saturday at the grocery store and Walmart, shopping for stuff to donate to the local food pantry.

Then last weekend, she came home for a quick visit and I went downstairs to find her digging around in our storage shelter. She was pulling out old towels and blankets that we never use anymore, to donate to her town's animal shelter, because they always are running short on those items.

The way she thinks of others and is not hyper-fixated on herself and her wants and her needs makes me very happy.

 

[BTExpress]

 

[MisterCreosote]

Since “my kids” is too easy:

Road trips through the Finger Lakes.
Running.
Coaching running.
Basketball.
Coaching basketball.
Chincoteague Island.
Biking.
Walking my dog.
Getting enough sleep.
Taekwondo.
Visiting beach towns in winter.
A clean house.

 

[dixiehack]

Personal growth and acceptance

I still probably need to go back to a therapist, but what started as a make-do workaround when money wasn’t available has become an incredible speed run to figure out why I am the way I am. Some things were choices I got wrong and some things come from childhood and/or brain chemistry that was defective when it left the factory. Each day I figure out something else to forgive myself for and course correct as necessary.

 

[Here me roar]

Traveling

 

[wicked]

Friends who make me laugh

Watching baseball on a warmish late spring/early fall night

Watching Ohio State lose

Watching Michigan lose

Watching the Yankees lose

Watching the Red Sox win

A gentle rain shower

A rainbow

Seeing the joy on a kid’s face when they’re amazed by something

Watching football on a cooler fall day with some leaves on the ground

Seeing bright red leaves during foliage season

Ireland

A lot of my family, though not all

On the rare occasions I do it, writing

On the very rare occasions it happens, writing well and just “nailing it”

People appreciating my ideas and seeing that they have merit

A tasty adult beverage, beer or otherwise

My wife’s happiness when she walks in the door and she realizes she has six hours to razz me before bed

Sleeping in on a Saturday morning

Sleeping in on a Sunday morning

Lived experiences, I don’t even need to take a photo of them — the memory is seared into my brain

This list is a lot longer than I intended. Mea culpa.

 

[I Should Coco]

Being a part -- even just a very, very, very small part -- of our community's annual holiday concert, which I have done for the past four years.

And when I say very small, I'm talking about being one of a 105-person choir that backs up our city's orchestra on about a half-dozen Christmas songs.

But it really is a privilege to look out from the stage of our 105-year-old, 1,500-seat theatre and see a full house enjoying everything from the "Hallelujah Chorus" to some more-obscure Christmas and Hanukah music.

 

[FileNotFound]

Music. Heard some live music last night. Playing some tonight. Music is just about all it takes, most days.

 

[UNCGrad]

I love learning of a new-to-me artist or band, and then diving all the way and realizing, goddam it, this guy or gal or band speaks to me. Now I'm all-in.

Been doing that for the last month for an artist, and it's the best.

 

[dixiehack]

What makes me happy: the less-weighty version.

* The first two slices of really good pizza hot out of the oven. All of it is good but there’s something about those first couple of slices at their peak that just sends the endorphins into overdrive.

* Losing myself in a game. Not trying to watch and post on Facebook and SJ and Reddit and constantly check scores and eat my snack all at once. Purposefully putting down my phone and allowing myself to get hypnotized by the flow.

* Conversely there are nights where I want to watch college basketball but I’m not locked into a must-see game. So I’m hoping all over the place while keeping an eagle eye on the score app and flipping through obscure games to get to dramatic moments, like I’m in the control truck for RedZone. Right now I’m way more invested in the end of Texas State vs. Southern than any human should be.

* Making people laugh without trying. I like trying to do so, but the moments when I’m just naturally funny are the best. I don’t have a ton of talents but I have that one.

 

[qtlaw]

I live behind an elementary school and it never fails to make me smile when I hear the kids yelling and playing throughout the day. Such a wonderful natural soundtrack.

I live across the street from the back gate of our elementary school and I feel exactly the same even though my kids are now in their 20’s.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Making my wife laugh.

Spending time my tight group of friends, telling stories and laughing a lot.

Exploring places I’ve never been.

A purely struck golf shot.

Meeting a new dog.

A job well done.

A strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.

A purring cat curling up on me.

Not setting an alarm when I crawl into bed.

 

[Driftwood]

Being outside by myself near a body of water with the only sounds being Mother Nature and drag on my reel humming.

 

[Flip Wilson]

Sitting on my front porch, reading a book and waving at every car that drives by.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Being in the car while my 16-year-old daughter is driving - just me and her. For some reason, that's the time she is most talkative and that's when she asks me about how I fell in love with her mom, what it was like growing up in the 1970s, how I chose a college, how I chose a career, why I changed careers, etc. And then I get to ask her about the big things in her life.

Doing the same with my wife. When we started dating, she had just moved to town and we'd drive around so she'd get the layout of the city and how to get from A to B (pre-smart phones and maps in your dash, obviously). Even now, she'll say "You wanna go for a drive? Maybe hit the Sonic happy hour?" and I'll drop everything to go. We talk about big stuff and little stuff. We listen to our favorite XM channels. We drive past dream houses that we've both been eyeballing for decades (and that STILL haven't come up for sale).

Being on our hunting property. The original 40 acres has been in our family since before statehood. We've (well, my forefathers) added another 230 acres over past 180-plus years. It is crisscrossed with stone walls (dry stacked, no mortar). It makes me feel connected to my previous generations.

Getting texts from my guys. I have a core group of best friends. The six of us either lived or worked together back in the late 1990s. We stayed in touch over the years, but during the pandemic we started a Friday night Zoom call. We still do it. More importantly, we started a group text that rarely goes two hours without somebody chiming in. On football Saturdays and Sundays, we may have 200 texts between us all.

Finally, this place. This damned old message board where I spend way too much time makes me happy. Y'all make me happy with your jokes, your sarcasm, your snark, your intelligence and your criticism. I'd hate to think how much less enjoyable the internet would be without SJ in it.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Being in the car while my 16-year-old daughter is driving - just me and her. For some reason, that's the time she is most talkative and that's when she asks me about how I fell in love with her mom, what it was like growing up in the 1970s, how I chose a college, how I chose a career, why I changed careers, etc. And then I get to ask her about the big things in her life.

This is freaking awesome. That's the passing down of history for future generations. Big props to her for showing an interest and not being detached from the things that are important in your family's story.

 

[dixiehack]

That’s great about the conversations on drives. I wonder if some of it is because they can’t be on the phone?