Live, Laugh, Love and Drink Wine ... and eat Haribo

As a society we're often critcised for being too materialistic and in truth my response to that would be to get a bit "umpy" and politely inform people that I've worked long and hard to get where I am and it's not a crime to like to have nice things. But although buying a new TV for example is fab, your happiness in that peaks when you get it delivered, set it up and watch those 1st few movies exclaiming all the while about the amazing picture, sound etc. Pretty soon it becomes the norm and it's back to being just the "TV". But general happiness is not determined by the occasional big events in life but the smaller day to day things that set the scene for our mood and our perception of our own happiness. 

So what brought me onto this deep and meaningful? Last night whilst cooking up a culinary delight of sausages and mash for the kids I was pondering dates combined with a bit of mental maths and realised that tomorrow it is exactly 100 days to my birthday. Now, in truth, this is not exactly a whoop whoop day in my diary - not sure I've ever even spotted the D-100 day before but hey ho. The reason it has stuck in my brain is that recently I've noticed a few friends posting photos on various social media under the banner of #hundred_days_happy or something of that ilk. They tend to be amazing women who post photos of things that make them happy and what's noticeable is none of them are centred around getting a new TV. They're arty things they've made, kid stuff or in one case just a handful of jellybeans. 

This left me pondering whether my defence of "nice stuff" was doing me a bit of a disservice. What actually is it, truly and honestly, that makes me happy of a normal day? Things that if they happen I get to the end of the day and think - yup - good day or indeed things that don't happen and I'm launching for the pinot grigio before the watershed. As I drove home today I tried to have a real heart to heart with myself as to what exactly would make me happy.... You'll be ever so grateful to know I didn't do the 100 things but limited it to 10... See what you think of this lot, in no particular order:

1) The kids actually sleeping through the night and not waking up before 7am 
2) When I leave work late to pick up the kids finding the roads through Surrey clear and not gridlocked through some random accident meaning I don't have to call the school yet again and apologise for being late 
3) Getting to work, checking my diary and realising it is not back to back meetings
4) Getting my email inbox down to single digit of unread email - Booyah! 
5) Hopping on the scales and seeing any number that is equal or less than the number I previously saw
6) Those stupid little things kids say that make you laugh out loud wherever you are
7) Having a kitchen disco and serving hot pizza from the oven and everyone grabbing a slice and all talking at once
8) Going for coffee at a friend's house and the kids not fighting but playing nicely for ages
9) When you are stuck in traffic in the car and out of the corner of your eye you spot a packet of Haribo that's still got some in - and there's no one else in the car so you can just eat them and not have to share 
10) When someone, big or little, in the middle of a humdrum day just suddenly comes out with an "I Love You" for no reason whatsoever other than they do....

Looking at that list - none of them feature a TV delivery, in fact none of them feature anything materialistic and these are the things that are the soundtrack to my life and seem to be centred on good fortune that make my life more organised or sharing good times with people. Moments that perhaps when you look back you can't remember the individual incidents but that on balance make you feel good. 

One of my favourite quotes is from the author Maya Angelou in which she says that you don't always remember the things that people do but you do remember the way they make you feel. 

So whilst I don't recommend eating an entire pack of Haribo on your own in the car (because trust me you do feel very sick afterwards) I think that when you truly look at what gets you through the day, don't overlook the little things that come in all shapes and sizes that leave you feeling like life is pretty darn good. 

Ok I give in...

11) Pinot Grigio