Ah happiness. It is something we all want and we all have different ideas of what makes us happy (or what would make us happier). Sometimes it feels like we’re chasing it. Other times we realize we can reach out and grab it.

 

Catch me on any given day and I’d probably tell you that hugs from my boys, Diet Coke and a call from my mom make me smile. In the “I would be happier if I had…” category, I tend to list a bigger house and more money (who wouldn’t be happier with more money?). 

 

I’ll admit that I usually spend more time thinking about all the other things I need to make me happy and less time focused on what already does (come on…everyone does it now and then). Until now. 

 

Today I read that in 1926 British psychoanalyst Marion Milner set out to discover what made her truly happy in her day-to-day life. She kept and published a journal, A Life of One’s Own, under the pen name Joanna Field in 1934. I love the idea of taking time each day to relive the happiest moments and jot them down. 

 

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I’m going to steal Ms. Milner’s idea and keep my own happiness journal this year. I hope to focus on all the things that make me smile—even on a bad day. 

 

My top picks from today–dancing in my kitchen with my boys and spreading butter on a hot roll I’d made from my mom’s recipe. Every time I make my mom’s bread I remember what it was like to be seven years old and waiting for the timer to go off on the oven. My mom would cut me a slice of bread and I’d slather it with so much butter even the bottom of the bread turned yellow. That also makes me grateful that there was a time in my life when I didn’t know about calories or fat grams—much less worry about them. 

 

From time to time I’ll share my top happiness journal picks here and I’d love to hear about yours, too. So, tell me, what makes you the happiest?