Things To Be Grateful For
Invisible blessings
For the last four weeks, I’ve had some sinus trouble. It waxes and wanes, but I’ve been sniffly for a full month at this point, and finally have been prescribed antibiotics just on the off chance it does something. At about week three, I suddenly remembered “oh, right, I had a sore throat for a few months before, too.” Maybe it was even several months! It felt like it had been forever, and would be forever.
But it wasn’t. In fact, it went away so thoroughly that I forgot about it. Just like it will this time. And wow, what a great time that will be.
A lot of happiness is probably just noticing that stuff isn’t wrong, before it goes wrong. What else has this shape?
Basic Executive Function
Sometimes it’s quite easy to clear off a table, or put away laundry, or vacuum a room, or run the dishwasher. Other times, it’s very hard. It’s quite joyful to bustle through several domestic tasks in a row; you get flow state and can immediately see the tangible benefit from your actions. There have been times when I ruthlessly attacked various sink drains in my household, simply because I felt like it. Good times!
Low Work Stress
Sometimes work is just sort of annoying and invisible. It doesn’t require heroic reserves of energy to do, nor is it terribly exciting. Nothing is on fire and it’s easy to forget about the big picture and just sort of go from one task to the next. When there’s a crisis, be it personal, team, or industry level, the boring times sound paradisical. Perhaps they are!
Having A Really Exciting Work Of Fiction
Sometimes the book I’m reading, or the video game I’m playing, or the Netflix show I’m watching, kind of sucks. I’ll still get through a mediocre or uneven game, or struggle through a show that I watch with some family member if it’s just okay. And I’ll dutifully complete a book if a friend recommended it, or I’m reading it in a book club situation. Mediocre entertainment is still entertaining.
But a great work of fiction? Or even a decent work of fiction well suited to exactly what I want? Few pleasures are as sublime. When I’m playing a great video game, I sort of think “that’s just what video games are like.” Not so! Doing Mythic+ Spires of Ascension runs really was something special.
Exercise
If you exercise regularly, wow. That’s so good for your well being. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t. There are levels. Rarely, I’m super sedentary, usually because I get the flu or something and am too sick to walk. Usually I take daily walks, but that’s about it. Sometimes I also do calisthenics or noodle around with dumbbells. And occasionally, for a few months or even a precious year, I’ll have an actual, fully fleshed out gym routine. Each of these tiers is so much better than the ones below! Yet I seldom appreciate my position on the hierarchy, and how much better it is for me than the tiers I might tumble to another month.
Diet
Lately I want ice cream all the time. I don’t give it to myself all the time, but if I scan my body for what I want to eat, it is ice cream. I’m not sure what this means, but it’s probably not good.
Which reminds me that there are times in life when specific healthy meals, that I can cook, strongly appeal to me. What wonderful times those are! I bet I’ll even get another one of them, sometime in the next few years. Something to look forward to.
And More
So many other categories. Really close friendships, and specifically friend romance where you’re just totally on fire for a new person in your life. Regular social events. Frequent time spent with family. Having the house to yourself sometimes. Having company sometimes. Having a sweet baby toddling around learning new words all the time, and saying “it’s a mystery” because you said “it’s a mystery” after she asked “where mama go?”
Mama was in the kitchen. We solved the mystery. What else is there, even?