Can you name 50 things that make you happy?

Some experts believe that people have become superficial with the age of the Internet. They feel more comfortable relating to others online rather than conversing face-to-face. Some people even socialize with each other through avatars on sites such as Second Life and in Facebook games.

It is said that we have lost our introspection – that people in our current society spend little time getting to know themselves and most of their non-working time on the computer or in front of the television.

A great way to gain some self-knowledge is by listing. There are numerous lists out there, and most seem really easy until you actually get into them. You will find that these lists take a lot more thought than you ever imagined.

The following is one of the more popular lists – 50 things that make you happy….I will take the first leap and attempt to come up with my 50. The deeper you go into the list, the more you actually have to think about yourself and what really makes you smile. There aren’t many rules to listing for self-knowledge – for today’s list you can write pretty much anything, except no named people! We all know that Mom, Dad, spouse, friends and your dog Rover make you happy. Please leave them off the list.

Ok, here goes….50 things that make me happy:

1. Rain
2. Audiobooks
3. The Great Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee/Western North Carolina
4. Fishing
5. Computers
6. Cats
7. History Detectives (on PBS)
8. The O.U. Sooners football team
9. All baby animals
10. Burning leaves in autumn
11. Movie popcorn
12. The eastern half of Oklahoma
13. Walking on a college campus in the fall
14. Family history research
15. Sewing (if I actually complete something!)
16. Reading
17. Dogs
18. Baking bread
19. The smell of coffee
20. My Ipod Touch
21. Reading the newspaper
22. Watching a snowstorm from inside the house
23. Picking up pecans with my Mom
24. Taking a roadtrip
25. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan
26. Birthday parties
27. A smiling baby
28. Riding a horse
29. Finally finishing a quilt
30. Old, deserted cabins or houses
31. A blazing fireplace on a snowy day
32. Old saddles
33. Spending a couple hours at a casino and breaking even
34. Bricktown in Oklahoma City
35. Finishing a project at work
36. Rabbits
37. The weird sounds a chicken makes
38. Funniest Home Videos on television
39. Hearing a marching band play Oklahoma!
40. April and October
41. That quiet time after sundown before darkness totally sets in
42. Making a writing pen out of a little block of wood
43. Going to lunch with my work colleagues
44. Unexpected cash
45. Cowboys
46. Pot roast with potatoes, carrots, brown gravy and biscuits
47. History of any kind
48. Sleeping under quilts on a really cold night
49. Trees
50. My dad’s old barn

Well, there you have it. I made it to 50, but it was tough. I hit the wall around number 28, but then got my second wind and breezed home. Try it – what do you have to lose? You might learn something about yourself – and you’ll see how easy it is to be happy every day!