What daily routine trifles make you happy?

Talking with a friend – preferably while walking
Soaking in a tub
Getting engrossed in a Netflix series
Reading
Cooking something nice for supper
Watching the swallows on the lake
Walking on the boardwalk by the ocean and people watching
Eating ice cream

I love my shower answers the question.

If you’re in the doldrums, I suggest you Google your location. Look for things to do. Touristy crap. I bet there are a lot of free places to visit that you’ve never heard of/bothered with.
Pick one of two, and go.
It’ll be a new experience with all new people that are largely wide-eyed with optimism my definition of tourist, lol.
Something like this.

You just need a fresh perspective.
:-)

Buy seeds for a beautiful plant, plant them, and then water them every day. Watch the teeny sprouts start. Watch as they get bigger every day because of your meticulous care. Then when they reach full size you have a lovely bit of nature in your home, and you made it happen.

Weeks of joy for $10.

Write down three things each day that you are grateful for, even if you repeat them, before going to sleep.

Ask someone less fortunate than you if they could do with some help. Like mow their lawn or something.

Volunteer at a women’s or homeless shelter. Your grateful quotient will soar if you do.

Interacting with the animals on the land here, especially my border collies, Sam ‘n Dave.
Riding Shy the horse.
Grazing through the garden, looking for the veggies that are ready to be picked, integrating them into the day’s menu.
Cooking.
Reading.
Writing.
Finding an old movie that I’ve never seen before, then using a torrent to download it because it is unavailable anywhere else.
Welcoming new people to Fluther.

Welcome to Fluther, @sunshine111. Nice question. I hope you find something interesting to do that makes you happy.

Read this twice, and call me in the morning!
:-)

After our respective showers!

I will add I love to garden and tend to my flowers and I get great joy when I get to cut some and put them in a vase. I also get a great smile each day I pull in my driveway after work and see them all blooming.

• Mobility. I used to take it for granted. Who doesn’t? Then after watching other people such as my mother slowly lose theirs, and spending all of 2010 with my foot in a cast, I actually think when I walk, and I am grateful for my ability to do it by myself, unaided. I am also very careful not to stumble or trip. Just one little misstep could rob me of a lot.

• Flexibility. I don’t have much. I was never a dancer, never good at gymnastics, never exercised much, and it was in yoga class that I broke my foot. But I can still tuck a leg under me and sit sideways on the sofa to read or watch a movie, and at my age I don’t care if it’s ladylike or not. Every time I do it, I’m aware of the ability (which I lost for a time on account of knee surgeries), and I feel like I’m getting away with something.

• Getting away with something. Letting yourself have a little treat or privilege outside the norm. Not too much, of course, because then it loses meaning and might also turn into something harmful; but a little can do you good. Snagging a slice of bacon before it goes on the table. Catching a nap at an unusual time, maybe even on the sofa. Turning up the volume when there’s no one around to bother. What’s the use of being grown up if you can’t sneak a couple of cookies right before dinner?

These are all small and arguably trivial things that feel good only because I pay attention to them. They don’t require going out or making any special effort. Most ordinary things have the potential to be more satisfying and enjoyable if you pay attention to them.

This will probably sound strange, I have only done it a couple of times. I take a bubble bath, lie down in it and close my eyes. I imagine that I am really old and in a nursing home or some such place. I sit with that thought for awhile. Then I pretend somehow I have been thrown back to 2016. I “wake up” and am so grateful and happy to be where I am and who I am.

Happy? I don’t remember what happy feels like. I get some small pleasure from watching , “Cats 101” on tv or picking up a really good book. Especially if I’m eating some guacamole with chips at the same time.
One weird thing I really enjoy is watching the first half hour of , “Giant.” After that it gets increasingly depressing. But the first part is glorious.

“Happy” is truly something that is missing from my vocabulary too. Quiet moments, a cup of coffee, spending time with my dog or just chatting to a loved one and reading. Those are moments which I feel give any remote meaning to my life.

By the way, you will not believe what a dog can do for a person’s psychology!

Feeding my cats. It’s pretty much the only time they are all in the same room at the same time.

You can live without a lot of pleasure in your life. I do it everyday.

Years ago, I made a promise to myself to be happy every single day for the rest of my life. So far it has worked wonderfully.

I really like Shawn Achor’s TED Talk on happiness…you can watch it here. It’s funny, and it comes with a program.

My morning coffee

My cats and nature, living on a rural property.

Lizards and Bullfrogs and Koi fish in the pond. ( We just had a female Koi lay about 1000 eggs! )

Right now, early mornings and the summer nights when it cools down and I can do things without sweating. haha

Otter Pops and ice cold plums. :-)

A good nights sleep.

@Coloma

Otter pops? Please tell me they aren’t made from actual Otters :)

They’re such cute little critters, playful and full of fun.

@Buttonstc haha, no. These are Otter Pops.

www.otterpops.com They are a frozen popcicle thingy. I keep a never ending supply of them in summer. :-) Brings out my 4 yr. old side.

They’re cute but I’ve never seen them before. Must be a West coast thing.

But, you have to admit it is a really strange name, ha ha.

:D

You’d prefer Possum Licks, @Buttonstc? lol

Ha ha. No, not really. But considering that they are ice pops, perhaps penguin pops might be more apropos :)

Just wait till our resident penguin sees this suggestion, ha ha.

She was #1 on this thread, @Buttonstc

Thanks for the reminder :)

Penguin pops – ooh!

Magically delicious.

Oh, wait, isn’t that Lucky Charms or something like that?

This morning my elderly neighbor that owns the property I live on came by, as he does every few days, in his golf cart loaded with buckets of fresh produce from his mega garden. Today he had at least 3, half gallon buckets of fresh blackberries, two 5 gallon buckets overflowing with zucchini, yellow crookneck squash and several varieties of cucumbers and a massive amount of chard. I took a big bowl of blackberries, some squash and a couple lemon and regular green cucumbers. He is such a darling, turning 88 this year and still tends his huge garden, drives his tractor/backhoe around and is just so spiffy in his shorts, suspenders and farmer hat. haha

How many people can say they have a produce man that delivers fresh veggies to their front door within minutes of being harvested?

Oh, and a huge bucket of string beans, I forgot the beans. haha

OH! You didn’t tell us you had a sugar daddy, @Coloma!

@ibstubro Well ya know, I am damn charming. lol

@ibstubro Oh, and, I want you to know, I was at my local grocery outlet today and bought an obscure Filipino spaghetti sauce. I have no idea what Filipino style spaghetti sauce is all about but, you are influencing me from afar with your discontinued food bin adventures. lol

@Coloma

Check the ingredient label because I know, generally speaking, Filipinos LOVE their MSG. They use it a lot in their cooking. (I almost married a guy from the Phillipines. But when he was firm in his plans to move back there and raise a passel of kids on one of those tiny islands miles from civilization, that was a deal breaker for me.)

There’s a seasoning packet for which they’re famous called “Magic Serap” which is pretty much MSG with very little else. They put it into EVERYTHING.

If it’s not a problem for you, then all is well and good. But I know for some people it’s a big problem. Read that label carefully :)

@Buttonstc I will check. I am too lazy to go do it right now. haha
Recovering from a massage.
From what I have read, possible MSG aside, the Filipino sauce is on the sweet side, so I may not like it anyway.

It’s been 2 weeks.
Did you eat the Flip sauce or not?
It might be good with some of my fishless tuna! ~~

I love MSG!!
I only use it a few times a year, but I dearly love the stuff.

@ibstubro Oh yes, it was so so, too sweet for my taste but worth the experiment.

Yeah, hell, you never know until you try it, @Coloma.
Thank the Gourd most of the experiments are so-so, cause it’s hard to find the remaindered crap again.

@ibstubro I made white albacore tuna salad stuffed canned Jalapenos yesterday and gave a plate to my neighbor. They went nuts for them. haha
it sounds really bizarre but, you buy the large, pickled, Jalapeno peppers, slice them in the diagonal, scrape out the seeds, pat dry with paper towels and then stuff your tuna/mayo mix in the halved peppers and sprinkle crushed white corn tortilla chips on top. I but the extra thin and crisy chips.

They are so good, try it sometime!

I have a very limited tolerance for Jalapeno peppers.
The cream cheese stuffed from Walmart are about my limit, and they are bland as bland can be, I must say.

Yes, I channel Ed Grimley a lot.