To ask what little joys you find in life?

I am recovering after a bout of being very unwell. I've been reading a lot around how you can use your inner voice/narrative/monologue to create positive pathways in your thinking and, in turn, affect the release of happy or stress hormones.

It may all be woo nonsense but I find it really helpful to proactively look for the positives and opportunities for gratitude in most of my interactions, and 'verbalise' them in my head.

Eg. My dog walk could be 'Christ I'm running late, she's sniffing so slowly, oh that cloud looks a bit stormy" but I actively choose to think the thoughts of "Am I not so lucky to live on the beach? How great to be well enough to walk this everyday. I am grateful I get to do this walk each morning" etc. I truly believe it's helping me live a more positive life and helps me find real joy in everyday moments.

I promise i am normal and not a mad hippie!

Watching the birds, a cuppa in the garden.

Really good coffee from my favourite mug.
A new hardback book.
Fancy shower gel/body lotion.
Sitting in the garden watching the birds and bats flit about at dusk.
When dh and dc are all on our bed chatting and laughing together ❤️
It's been a very stressful and hard 6 months - I'm grateful we all seem to be happier/more positive 🙏

The first cup of tea of the day. Usually with just the cat for company, and preferably in the garden if weather permits.

A shower with my favourite shower gel.

Crafting while watching a box set.

A swim or bike ride.

The neighbours kids playing. The set up of our roads mean they live on a different road and their garden boarders the edge of our garage block which our house is next to. So I've never seen the kids. But they play in the garden all year round. Easter egg hunts, bonfire night, Christmas...the laughter is infectious

Me too!

Birds, walking in my favorite place on earth, tea/ coffee, snuggling my kids, driving in my car listening to tunes. Horses. Laying in bed scrolling at the end of the day. The smell of fresh sheets. Overnight oats. Going on a run feeling the buzz after. Reading a good book. Laughing with friends& family

Hearing small children laughing.
Breakfast in bed on Sundays
Wandering round gardens - my own or other people’s
Walking barefoot on grass.
Just standing for a few moments in a patch of sun

O meant to always say

Starting my day with 5 minutes of Duolingo, I've been learning German for nearly a yearr.
Doing a 10 minute (or longer if I have time) Get Fit with Rick work out every morning.

Clean sheets
My dog
Chatting with my children
Meeting up with friends even better if they have instigated meet up

Elevenses. And 4pm snack. I wish there was a proper name for 4pm snack.

I try and draw something every day. Just something small. A leaf, or a shell from the jar of shells I keep on my desk. I put it on my day list ('draw something') and take the time to do it.

I do this with my DC! Occasionally people look a bit freaked out but I love it, and I think it makes the world feel a bit nicer. We’ve yet to encounter anyone who didn’t accept!

I follow a group on facebook Called Ordinary and Happy, it has lots of ideas and suggestions. A lot of it is along the lines of trying new things and practising gratitude. Also the following:
A good book
Watching a new boxset or similar
Crochet, I find this can be quite calming
Trying a simple new recipe, I make a three ingredient Lotus Biscoff cake
Fresh air
A big cup of tea
Something sweet to eat
Play some 80s music on Youtube and have a good bop
Decluttering one area of your house
A new lipstick or different coloured eye shadow or similar
A good root in a charity shop, also good for books
A catch up with friends

My cats.. my coffee.. my garden.

Ditto donkeys.

Goats. If you can't own one then find one you can visit.

Love the ice cream idea just thinking I might open the cardboard pack in front of people though.

For me it depends on my mood, but like a lot of others it can be a bit of a domestic goddess day. So an apron on, the sheets in the wash. The bread maker on and soup cooking in the slow cooker.

A quick hoover, dust and tidy and then it’s time to make a quick cake, like brownies, banana cake or maybe some scones. Then the afternoon would be having mugs of tea ( but from a tea pot so much better) with a jug of milk and cake in front of the tv watching something cheesy like the BBC pride and prejudice.

Sometimes it’s just a pic nic rug outside and a book or even a soak in the bath and painting my toe nails after a face mask. Another thing I love to do is forage for wild raspberries and blackberries.

I know it sounds daft but sometimes just having a breakfast on a weekend with teapot tea and my toast cut diagonally just makes me feel good. It can be just a little bit of something extra.

Give yourself some grace. Be gentle with yourself, things are tough. Absolutely find some positives where you can, but having been through a very tough time, trying to be grateful and positive sort of made me feel like I had something else to do and something else to fail out.
Instead I focused on softness and gentleness whereever I could. For me that meant going outside first thing every day. Rain or shine. Taking a few breaths. Just me and the world.
I started building normal routine things into rituals. My tea making for example, I use a teapot and whistling kettle and I sit and I drink it slowly. Sometimes that’s with my youngest dc playing some game or another so it’s not necessarily peaceful but it is mindful and there is comfort in it.

I do agree that adding in more things that make you happy is a wonderful idea but try one small thing at a time, it will build a more sustainable habit.

Be gentle with yourself. Life is hard for you right now.

This is a lovely thread OP. Thank you for starting it.

@Sortumn cross posts about herbs!

Those days when it's sunny enough to do a wash, hang it on the line and get it all dry and put away at the end of the day.

Washing blowing on a line - especially if it's all white for some reason.
I use those old fashioned dolly pegs because they look so cute.
Picking herbs from my window box and using them in a home cooked meal.

Walking. Being in nature and noticing what is around me. Putting one foot in front of the other helps me feel less stuck. You can get an almanac of the seasons for about a fiver and it tells you what to look out for. It seems a bumper year for hazelnuts this year.

I also collect herbs on my walks to dry for teas. There's still mugwort about and rosebay willow herb, red clover, rose petals, plantain, bramble leaf, meadowsweet, yarrow off the top of my head.

🤣🤣

(And, @mumsnet, pithy posts like this is exactly why we need the laughing emoji back!!).

For me, nothing beats that first cup of coffee. Even better now that the occasional morning has a very slight tang of autumn in the air…lovely!

Tea in my favourite lovely china mug.