An Attitude of Gratitude: Little Things that are Making Me Happy

I’m big on enjoying the little things in life. I believe that our attitudes determine our direction, and if we cultivate feelings of gratitude and appreciating the great things in our life, both big and small, it can only lead to a happier heart and soul.

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In the spirit of this, today I want to talk about some of the little things that have been making my happy lately. Here we go!

Puppy snuggles – When I work in my home office, sometimes my dog comes and lays under my desk. Not only does she keep my feet nice and warm, but every time I look down at her, she’s looking up at me like this:

I picture her saying things in a little kid voice like, “Hey mom! How’s work going? When are we going to go on a walk?”

I just love my dingo.

Chocolate chips in my pancake batter – As if I haven’t already mentioned it approximately 2,582 times on this blog, I love pancakes. I start off with this healthy batter mix, and then I add different toppings to it. Often these toppings will include chocolate chips. I put a few in the batter itself, and a few on top when I flip my flapjacks over. Yesterday I had banana protein pancakes topped with dark chocolate chips, strawberries and a drizzle of honey:

Yummmm. 

Cleaning my desktop up –  Between my PR work, blogging, and writing, my computer and I have a very close relationship. We spend many hours together, and I often will save things on my desktop for easy access. Over time, my desktop gets out of control with so many files and images saved on it. It sounds like such a small thing, but when I finally take the time to clean up the files and put everything in the right folder, it’s so nice. I just feel more organized.

A clean house – Speaking of feeling organized…I don’t actually enjoy the cleaning part itself, but once I have an organized, clean house, it’s just a content feeling. During the week things usually get a little messy, so usually sometime on Sundays, I tend to spend some time getting everything clean and tidy.

My rose bushes – I’ve made a few mentions of my rose bushes on the blog before, because they are the epitome of the little things making me happy. When I’m in my backyard doing yoga, playing with Harley, or taking care of things, when I look at my bright rose bushes I think beautiful! They’re constantly blooming, and what I love most is that they sometimes come out of nowhere. One day I’ll go outside, and this whole new big rose is there looking vibrant and pretty.  And they smell great!

My new Nike workout capris – Getting a couple new workout pieces always makes me excited, especially since I’m in workout clothes the majority of the time. Recently I bought these Nike capris:

I wore them all day yesterday, and they’re definitely a new favorite of mine! They’re super comfy, they stayed perfectly in place during my workouts, and I’m diggin’ the funky print on them. I’m into fun colors and patterns on my workout pants these days!

Finding good chocolate –  I must be in a chocolate kind of mood for it to make the list twice! But Bark Thins dark chocolate mint snacking chocolate = heaven.

I recently nabbed this bag at my natural foods store. Let’s just say that I’ve quickly become a fan, and I love that it’s non-GMO certified and uses fair trade ingredients. I kept eating a piece at a time when I needed a little something sweet, and I ran out the other day. I think I need to get another bag stat!

My new orchid plant – For Valentine’s Day, my hubby gave me a white orchid. I’ve told him before that orchids remind me of my grandma, and earlier in the week I had mentioned missing her, so he thought to get me a new orchid plant.

Don’t get me wrong, while roses or other more traditional V Day flowers are always nice too, it was a surprise to get a different and sentimental flower for the occasion. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of both my thoughtful husband and my late grandma.

Tell me… What little things are making you happy lately?

PS – Did you know that I do health coaching? Check out my coaching page for more information.