I have been plagued by happiness all day. To the unsuspecting this may seem like a fine problem to have but ‘tis not so. Before my eyes were truly open this morning the television was talking about a new study on happiness. Of course, my first thought was “Crap, I have to write my blog on happiness today” – not exactly a happy thought. As usual when I am trying to gather my thoughts on a topic, I carried a pen and paper for jotting notes. Unfortunately, my pad is empty and my pen is full. Therefore, I have decided to consult a guru on the topic. This naturally means I looked up happiness on wikipedia; and learned that happiness is a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. While expanding my knowledge of happiness via wikipedia, I did avail myself of The Oxford Happiness Inventory, which is touted as a good tool for quantifying happiness. I am proud to report that I scored a 75% on the happiness scale. I do believe I am happy at least 75% of the time. However, it still did not tell me what makes me happy. I believed I was well on my way to compiling a list (a good list); until I read the responses on twitter and facebook. My list included the love of a dog; a fine writing pen; really good coffee; the warmth of snuggling; a book I can become totally lost in; being so silly I collapse into laughter that ends in tears; holding hands; quiet; driving a 5 speed; chocolate cake with white icin; hanging a curve; floating in the pool; perfect parallel parking; squish toys, woods; hawks flying or being able to spot them sitting in trees; gravy & biscuits; fixing something rather than buying new; a clean house; electronics; genealogy; eating at the table; sitting on the sunport (our screened in porch which used to be a carport); Little Debbie Swiss Cakes; Mountain Dew in a can; friends who know you and love you anyway. From my friends at wikipedia, I found this really cool map which shows the Satisfaction with Life index. It is all very interesting. KEY: green = most happy blue purple orange red = least happy Satisfaction with Life Index Map - Map was published in White, A. (2007). A Global Projection of Subjective Well-being: A Challenge To Positive Psychology? Psychtalk 56, 17-20. Map coloured according to The World Map of Happiness, Adrian White, Analytic Social Psychologist, University of Leicester. "The data on SWB [Subjective Well-Being] was extracted from a meta-analysis by Marks, Abdallah, Simms & Thompson (2006)." From our facebook and twitter friends/tweeps we learned these things make people happy: My husband, watching my animals play including lots of kisses, meeting Tweeps in person, helping others, a nap, chocolate Being content. Happiness is honesty and respect for the ones closest to you. Knowing that you have done the right thing regardless of what the outcome might be. Happiness is being true to yourself and to the ones you love and love you. Going on walks with my family in the evenings makes me happy Sleeping past noon. :) and naps with warm kitties. Yes-- I like to sleep! heh Being blessed with the necessities of life-car, house, clothes, food. Not lacking any needs. May not be the best or highest priced car, house, clothes, or food but at least I have shelter over my head, transportation, and I'm not going hungry. The biggest thing I can take away from all this is - it is rarely the things, which make us happy. It is the living creatures in our lives - the people - the events - the times. Enjoy who YOU are. Enjoy those you love and especially those who love you. I know I speak for all of us at Glynne’s Soaps (Jenn, Gayle & Wrigley) – Above all else, we wish you happiness in all you do.

I must make a confession. Not to worry, it is nothing earth shaking, like murder. It is even doubtful it will cause me to enter a 12-step program. I am addicted to the internet. I said it, out loud (in type), on the computer. The thing is this addiction has caused me to read multitudes of the “25 Random Thing About Me” postings on Facebook (Be our friend on FaceBook). Recently someone posted a variation it was “30 things that make me happy”. It made me think. What would I list as the 30 things that make me happy? I have been diligent working on my list. What I would like is to know what makes you happy? It could be something big or something small. Let me know (list of contact information below) and I’ll compile a list for our blog for Wednesday. If it's private, just let me know and I'll keep it that way :D Twitter.com/glynnesoaps (send me a reply or Direct Message) Facebook post it on our wall e-mail glynne@glynnesoaps.com Gayle