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Lately I’ve been facing some things in my life that have left me questioning “What IS happiness?”
I’ve posed this question to myself, friends, family, and even random strangers I meet at the grocery store,  yet the only consistency I find, is inconsistency. It seems that the answer to this question varies depending on age, gender, ethnicity, health, circumstance, values and state of mind. Finally I came to the realization, “We’re just making it too difficult”.
I know for me, the definition of happiness really seems to change each year that I get older. Strange isn’t it? One would think it would be consistent our whole life through, alas in a complicated world…this just isn’t the case. All too often we get caught up in the “forces” working against our happiness, rather than focusing on the “light” that is all around us (Wow, that sounded very Star Wars didn’t it? lol). Anyways, for this very reason I jotted down 99 things that ALWAYS make me smile, to remind myself (and hopefully a few of you who read this) that the big victories really ARE in the little things.
After you read this post, I challenge YOU to ask yourself, “What makes ME smile?” I would absolutely LOVE to hear your answers, so please share your lists however big or small, in the comment section below.  Consider it an experiment. What if we all shared a few things that bring us happiness and we manifested more happiness amongst one another in the process? Wouldn’t that be nice? I think so, we can all use a little warmth, right?
Ha…warmth, as in the sun aka “Soleil” over here beaming at her own goofy jokes…lol

Okay, so here’s my list…99 things that ALWAYS bring  a smile to my face (A-Z):

1. A child’s laughter
2. A cool breeze on a hot day
3. A full moon
4. A fully charged ipod
5. A passionate kiss
6. Anticipation
7. Arboretums
8. Art
9. Baby lambs (NOT to eat)
10. Being  loved
11. Big funky rings
12. Bohemian style
13. Books
14. Bubble gum
15. Camping
16. Candles
17. Chandeliers
18. Chapstick
19. Chocolate covered raisins
20. Clever wit
21. Closing my eyes and seeing the one I love
22. Coffee
23. Crunchy pickles
24. Dancing
25. Exotic plants
26. Faith
27. Family
28. Feeling especially productive
29. Fireplaces
30. Fishnets
31. Friends
32. Fully charged Blackberry
33. Genuine compliments
34. Good health
35. Hats
36. High heels
37. Hiking
38. Holding hands
39. Hope
40. Horses
41. Hot tea
42. Hysterical laughing
43. Interesting lamps
44. Journaling
45. Karaoke
46. Legwarmers
47. Libraries
48. Lip gloss
49. Liquid eyeliner
50. Little baby hands
51. Little thoughtful acts
52. Magazines
53. Making handmade cards
54. Making someone else happy
55. Mascara
56. Music
57. My laptop + internet
58. Nail polish
59. New shoes
60. Ocean air
61. Old bookstores
62. Old family pics
63. Overcoming a fear
64. Peanut butter and chocolate
65. Phone booths
66. Picnics
67. Pillows
68. Pottery
69. Pumpkin anything
70. Purses
71. Quilts
72. Refreshing rain
73. Riding a bike along the beach
74. Russian nesting dolls (matryoshka)
75. Scarves
76. Scrabble
77. Silky smooth legs after shaving
78. Sleeping in late
79. Sliding down banisters
80. Smiling so big it hurts your cheeks
81. Spinning around as the tide rolls in
82. Stroking a cat or dog
83. Texts/IM/DM’s from that one special person
84. The feeling of squeaky-clean teeth
85. The scent of Burberry “Touch”
86. The smell of freshly cut grass
87. The smell of tanning lotion
88. The sun
89. Thrift stores
90. Topiaries
91. Trees in bloom – magnolia, cherry, horse chestnut and hawthorne to name a few
92. Unconditional love
93. Vintage photography
94. Warm blankets
95. Wine
96. Writing
97. Xanax ;)
98. Yoga
99. Zebras

Okay, your turn now…