What makes you happier?

[A.K.Light]

What makes YOU a happier person? What things have had a significant impact on your happiness and what things continue to make you smile big day to day?

I'll name a few to start.

Making people laugh, helping people, playing some good guitar, my friends and family, that special woman, making half court shots, blocking shots made by people who are six inches taller than me, bringing people together, building things, singing and dancing - no matter how badly I do it, the smell of rainy summer night, the sunshine of a spring day, listening to good music,..

One of the things that had a signifcant impact on my overall happiness was my ability to realize how great all the small things are. I'm sure I'll think of more later, but I'm curious to hear from you!

[Freelancer]

Anything, everything I choose to make me happy.

Now that we have that answer out of the way these are the things that are a little easier to be happy about;
- Finishing a big and difficult task
- Making others laugh
- Helping other people
- Playing soccer and feeling the rush of being faster than everybody else (quite easy for me )

[Shamou]

Good and positive thread A.K.Light…

What makes me the happier is the greatest gift that life (or God) has given me… the lady who shares my life for the past 24 years… my wife… she is the seventh wonder of the world…

However… obviously, that is something that I cannot share… so, let me add something that I can share…

What makes me the happier on a day to day basis is the satisfaction of a job well done… anything that I do is an expression and an extension of who I am… so, when I can achieve something particularly well… it gives me a tremendous boost… it makes me feel good about who and what I am…

Robert Pirsig… author of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” (a classic) tells us that… “You cannot expect to do sloppy work for eight hours and expect to come home a different person. You are what you do.” I have taken that advise to heart… and it has served me well…

.

[A.K.Light]

Yeah! Sounds like good stuff guys. And I agree, I feel happier when I'm working hard and accomplishing things. I love that quote Shamou.

I love being in the zone. When I use all my resources, when I'm focused and working hard, but also having tons of fun and gaining lots of satisfaction from what I'm doing. Basically, not cutting myself short. Going all the way. That's definitely a good feeling and it makes me happy.

Just being here is wonderful! Life rocks. Here's one more for my list:

When I just let go and do something only using my intuition and the guts I need to follow it - and then end up with spectacular results. (When I do that, I usually have a blast no matter what. The great results are just a bonus.)

For a lot of things that I do for fun, my motto is "all guts, all glory". If I lose a game, who cares? I tried as hard as I could, but that does not mean that I played it safe the whole time. Playing it safe bores the crap out of me...

[Freelancer]

all guts, all glory

Thats a awesome mentality !

jesus I'm considering adopting that as my general way of looking at work/challenges etc.

[JohnPlace]

What makes me happy:

1) My wife. God I love that woman.
2) Working on something I believe in, whether it's successful or not.
3) Personal, professional and artistic integrity.
4) Watching a well made movie in the dedicated home theater I designed using all my geeky AV skills. I love my theater. I've got pics over at AVS Forum if anyone is interested.
5) Helping other people learn to be everything they want to be.

Good thread, guys!

[Tuumble]

...feeling I've made a difference in someone's life even if it's just the exchange of smiles.

A kind word given/received, a caring touch, a thoughtful gesture it doesn't have to be much to feel like the world.

[A.K.Light]

Good stuff so far!

[Cath]

What makes me happy
- feeling the sunshine on my face and realising it's a beautiful day
- creating beautiful things
- feeling loved by my friends

[Dusty]

Self love... and all the consequences of doing so.