What Makes You Happy?

I’m a member of a book club, right now we’re finishing up The Happiness Project (I already finished… I couldn’t help myself!) and the question keeps being asked, “What makes you happy?”

Not, “what ought to make you happy,” or “what you don’t mind doing” but what actually makes you HAPPY.

I couldn’t believe how much trouble I had answering this question, I mean, I’m a basically happy person, I’d even say I’m above average on the happiness scale, but if I could do anything, what would I do?

First we focused on careers.

I’m not really career driven. It’s not that I’m not ambitious, but my goals just haven’t ever been related to a paycheck. Some people are meant to be CEOs and some of us are meant to be homemakers. Unfortunately, the rewards of being a stay at home wife/mom don’t include a paycheck.

While it’s not a passion or childhood dream of mine, I am taking the necessary steps to become a medical transcriptionist. Typing doesn’t necessarily make me happy, but I’m good at it (My average WPM are 85, but I can reach 94!) and guess what? WHERE I work will probably make me happier than WHAT I do. First and foremost, it means no socialization whatsoever, and solitude makes me (very) happy! This has got to be the best job for intoverts! It also means I can run laundry during the day (it’s hard to transfer from the washer to the dryer when I work 20 miles from home) and have supper in the oven before hubby comes home. Keeping a clean house and a hot supper on the table make me happy. In addition to being an introvert, I’m also a morning person, so being able to start work at 5:30 (and be done by 2!) will make me happy, too. Working from home will make me happy.

Next we talked about what hobbies make you happy.

I felt like I should say “getting mani/pedis with the girls!” or “collecting shot glasses” but those don’t really make me happy. This is what I came up with:

Cooking (but not baking)
Walking
Playing cards
Reading
Watching baseball games
Being outside
Eating out
Collecting Holstein cows
Trying new cheeses
Scrapbooking
Rainstorms
Taking pictures
Farmville (*grin*)
Going to 7:30 Mass
Snuggling into big blankets
Buying serving dishes (I don’t have a set, I have too much fun finding individual pieces one by one)
Relaxing in the afternoon sun
Breakfast
Antique stores
Buying and wrapping Christmas presents

So...

What makes you happy?