What small things...

[fedupofbeingbroke]

Make you happy? Or what small actions make you happy?
I've had PND and feel like I'm only just coming out of it (DD is 13m). I am now looking forward to going back to work, have been having the best time with my DD and feel like I've got into a sort of rhythm for my "new life" as a mum- it finally feels like we are a family and I'm not just "getting by". It just feels nice to be cheery again.
I'm oddly really enjoying the darker evenings and hearing the rain on the windows tonight and I'm just curious as to what small things or actions make you happy?

It’s mad, but I love a luxury aromatherapy hand soap! (Which I keep in a drawer so it’s not wasted!)
When I was my hands I take a couple of deep breaths in and enjoy the smell 😅. It really does make me smile.

I love lighting a wax melt and smelling it throughout the evening. It makes me feel more contented.

Random strangers being nice to each other.
The deer I saw in the early mist
Rain is always comforting to me.
The geese flying over my head
The hundreds if not thousands of swallows that "accompanied" me for part of a coastal walk last week when I was battling anxiety.
Waving at a dog and getting a wag in return.
Wild flowers growing in impossible/improbable situations

The perfect colour palette in my living room, the way the light comes in and fills the room and my huge cheese plant in the corner. It must do something dopamine related in my brain because every time I step into the room I get a little hit of pleasure because it all just ‘goes’

Chatting to random strangers;
walking along Brum's canals and marvelling at how they go through, yet are separate from the city;
reading

Piping hot cups of tea

A large cup of tea and a big bar of chocolate before bed (I know I know)

Seasonal Wax melts /candles

Cleaning! Deep cleaning!

Agree on the random chats with strangers!
Seeing dogs proudly holding a stick in their mouth or better still sticking their head out a window
A favorite song, especially when it comes on the radio and I think of all the people enjoying it at the same time as me
The autumn leaves where I live. Absolutely beautiful and I try to remind myself how lucky I am to live with such beauty around me.
Having a cappuccino in a local cafe with a good book.
Stupid in jokes with old friends
Seeing babies/ toddlers doing that rambly walk in no direction cos they are just so happy to be walking

Being alone in the house and cooking listening to some sort of drama (Spotify or bbc sounds)
Daffodils - the only flowers I buy for myself
After the gym, getting home and doing the sodoku with good coffee

Having a pedicure and catching sight of my painted toenails

And

Hearing music on TV programmes unexpectedly that takes me right back! Was watching BBC drama earlier and they played Talk Talk 'It's My Life'. EPIC.

Buying a bunch of flowers.

Managing to fold a fitted sheet properly 😄
Fresh air blowing in open windows in the house
Making eye contact with a random baby in the supermarket and waving at them and making them smile or giggle
Timing it so I arrive at the washing machine just as the door releases at the end of the cycle
Throwing out all the tights that didn't fit properly (too short in the leg) and now having a collection that I just choose the colour/ style to pull on and I know they will fit.....it is winter where I am and it was a boring few hours getting in and out of tights but so worth it.
Cooking dinner during the week being easy because I meal prepped in Sunday

Enjoying all the beautiful roses in my garden
Crocheting a lap quilt in random colours
Picking a bunch of dahlias from my garden and arranging them in a vase which belonged to my mother
Picking ripe tomatoes from my garden
Going for a walk admiring other people's gardens
Making a cup of 'proper' coffee and drinking it in my garden
Going to the library and choosing a book (or three) to borrow
Rubbing hand cream into my hands
Enjoying sunrises, sunsets, the waxing and waning of the moon
Doing yoga practice regularly
Making cakes for my family
Soon I will be making homemade soups again once the weather turns
Smiling at babies and getting a gorgeous gummy grin back

Lots of little things make me happy

Same as you OP, loving the darker evenings and rain hitting off the window. Especially when you're in bed.

Things that make me happy

• candle lit baths in the evening and a steamy bathroom

• skin care & a face mask along with a face mask

• shaving your legs etc and putting on fresh PJS

*• hearty dinner

• chick flick with snacks and a few drinks at home with candles

•snuggling up with DP.

I haven't been able to enjoy the above in quite some time as I have a 17 mo and a 5 week old. Starting to take the odd hour here and there during the day for myself to do these things that make me happy as I just feel like I'm in mum mode constantly.

A new book.

Watching the wildlife in my garden - it's only a little garden so every bit of space counts. It's full of bees, wasps and busy little birds.

The changing seasons.

DH and I doing daft things to make each other laugh. We've been together for 45 years and still have so much fun together.

Tea in my special mug that my best friend gave me.

Those little whuffly dreams that dogs have.

The sound of rain battering against the window (when I don't have to go out in it!)

Loads of things really, I'm very contented.

Car washes! When I was coming out of a breakdown, I vaguely remembered how much I used to enjoy them. For the next three weeks I took my car through the wash every day, singing at the top of my voice while the big brushes slooshed gallons of water inches from my face 😂

Little children laughing. Always.

Accidentally making a truly, perfectly fabulous meal!

Funny films. Everybody has their own idea of funny, but I will tell you I've watched Men In Black and Ghostbusters so often, I know them almost by heart. Still love them; they still make me laugh.

Looking at the sky. We don't spend enough time just looking up and watching it all. I can get properly lost in it (as long as it isn't raining on me!)

Soft & snuggly things. Huge jumpers and furry blankets, you know.

Wishing you many, many moments of pure 'here-ness'.

A steaming hot coffee from the cafetière.
A hot shower with my favourite aromatherapy shower gel.
Looking at the clouds.
Walking my dogs in the fields near my house.
Looking at water - when I retire I need to live in a house overlooking water: no idea where this is yet!

Surprisingly, today being a perfect early spring day - fine, sunny and cool. I'm not keen on spring, because summer comes after it, and that's bushfire season. Much prefer autumn and winter. But today was lovely, it was really nice to be out, even just doing shopping errands.

In general, my two cats being such cuddlers, lying on or beside me and purring.

When my cat with megacolon does a poo - a cause for celebration!

My weekly day off when I go to a knitting group and have sandwiches at a cafe.

New glasses with pretty frames!

Geese flying overhead, honking, V-formation - oh yes, a definite wonder.

A murmuration of starlings.

When I'm driving between trees or deep hedgerows, and suddenly an owl or a red kite flies out and flies alongside or just ahead of me for a few seconds.

Walking by a lake on a peaceful evening, at any time of year.

Being in water. Swimming in a rocky lake or a gentle sea.

Stroking a cat. The purrrrr.

My children leaning in to me. At any age. Just that warm, trusting weight of them against me.

The smell of my parents' house.

Mmmm☺️

Seeing a happy dog, we have to sing the happy dog song.

Also my indoor plants. I've only started having them since we moved house last year but now I have three plant areas that make me smile.

Waking up on a weekend and drinking coffee in bed with dh

Watching a series in bed at night with dh all cozy together

Sitting in the park watching my dc play

Going for a walk

Cuddling up to my dc

The changing of seasons

Sitting down after tidying the house or garden and enjoying it until it gets messed up again

Baking a cake

Hot buttered toast

So many things really

The first coffee of the day. Cuddling the dog. Fresh bedding. Being a third of a way through a great book.