These are a few of my favorite things- what are yours?
These are a few of my favorite things – what are yours?
In last week’s blog post, I talked about gathering my goals and getting ready for the new year, I also talked about reflecting on my life currently- what could I have done better, what’s not great, how am I missing the mark? I started thinking of ways that I can improve.
This week I am doing the opposite, before finishing up the year and creating a brand new set of goals for next year, I like to put together a list of what is great in my life.
It’s all too easy to see what is wrong with our life- at least I think so anyway. We can easily be dissatisfied thinking we’re missing something, or how we can improve or where did we fail and miss the mark. As we draw towards the end of the year, I do like to put my life under a microscope and seek out areas in which I can improve. But it is also just as important to figure out what is great in my life. I like to slow down for a couple of days, take stock, put on some great music even, close my eyes and think about my life and what I love about it!
What is great about my life?
Here is some questions and exercises that I use to focus on what’s great:
What do I love about my life?
Who are the special people in my life?
Special pets?
What is a particular meal I love, or color, or outfit, (I’m a bit partial to fuzzy socks myself! )
How much I love tea!
What music really inspires me or makes me weep?
What movies have I fallen in love with this year, or old favorites.
Or great stories I’ve read?
What do I love?
I grab a journal and start jotting down all the things I love or have a special affinity for.
Oh you might say I’m grateful for nothing, I love nothing, nothing good is in my life. Well if that is the case, think deeper. You’re able to read this aren’t you, be thankful you can read, and write it down. I’m sure it’s been less than 24 hours since your last meal, if so write it. You probably own a pair of shoes I’m guessing, put that down! If you have to start small, start thinking about what you could be grateful for, maybe eventually your learn to love these things too.
These are a few of my favorite things
So I made my children watch The Sound of Music last Christmas, it was one of the movies I loved growing up, it used to get shown every year in my country around Christmas, so my brain has filed it a Christmas movie, along with all the classic James Bond movies
Anyway, I don’t think anyone was that impressed with my choice of movies! But I do love that song.
Here’s the link if you need some inspiration!
A few of the lyrics as a reminder:
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things…
…When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
When I feel bad, out comes the list of memories and they help bring a little sunshine into my day. Then I go and enjoy some of the things on my list.
Here’s a few of mine:
My husband’s bristly beard
The soft touch of my two-year-old boy’s little cheek against mine
My first cup of tea in the morning
Walking in the woods, when the dappled sunlight filters through the leaves
The swirl of the ocean around my ankles, stealing the sand from under my feet
A good storm picking up around me and electrifying the air
Watching the rain rush towards me over the mountains, that moment right before it touches my face
Being cozy in my bed whilst a storm rages around the house
Coal fires crackling and the sound of rain outside the window
Okay so maybe I like storms a lot!
Then I write a list of magic moments
What has been a special moment today, this week, this month, this year.
Close your eyes and think about those special moments now, think about the people in your life, how do they look when they’re happy, when you’re playing around, think about special moments that put a smile on your face. When you just cuddled your pet, or went for a run, or danced this morning with wild abandon, or cozied up on the sofa with a good book.
Here are a few of my magic moments from this week:
This morning my little two-year-old son peeked around the door at me, looking sneaky- like a little pixie, expecting me to chase him, I did and he fell onto the floor giggling as I covered him in kisses.
Last night I enjoyed our wee Jack Russell as she ran around the bed doing turbo time, which basically means she goes crazy, running in circles, flying across the bed and then darts back under, before she attacks once more.
The other night I had fun in the kitchen, playing around and joking with my fifteen-year-old as we made dinner together.
Curling up in bed yesterday morning, with a good cup of coffee in one hand and a good book in the other.
I’m making a list and I’m checking it twice.
(actually I’m making two lists!)
What do I love?
What are some magic moments from this year?
One list is more general, the other more specific.
I want to make sure that I bring more of what is on my list with me into the new year, after all, these are the things that make my heart go pitter-patter and my spirit soar. Doesn’t have to be big things, in fact I find the smallest of things tickle me and bring me delight, and they are pretty easy to experience on a regular basis.
I like to think of it as soul maintenance, I think we can get all crumbly and dry on the inside if we don’t leave much room for the things that delight us in life.
Oh you might say, but they don’t contribute to my big goal this year or what I’ve decided is important. But the tiniest dose of joy is like rocket fuel and will give your purpose more drive, so don’t rob yourself of the things that make you happy.
After you’ve written your list don’t just file it away, keep it somewhere important, put it in a treasured place and pull it out frequently, when your feeling sad or when you just need to remember what is most in important in your life, when you feel truly alive.
It’s so important to stop and cherish what is great in our life, we’re always moving onto what’s next and sometimes forgetting what is now. If we don’t slow down from time to time to smell the roses, or the sweet fragrance that is already in our life, we might miss it all together. Then it is too late. When all we really do have left is memories, having missed the moment completely, where you can no touch and feel and taste and savor the richness that might be in your life right now.
Even if it’s an amazing cup of coffee or a smile from someone at the grocery store. Enjoy!
What are you grateful for? What are a few of your favorite things? What do you savor, enjoy? Who do you love, who loves you?
Why don’t you share some of the items from your list in the comments box below, along with any other ideas or suggestions, or anything else you would like to share, I’d love to hear from you!
What’s on you list?
Follow me on twitter @sk_lamont
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• Gathering my Writing Goals- Getting Ready for the New Year
What a wonderful thing to do at the end of the year! And I love the Sound of Music and that song:)
It is a wonderful way to celebrate the year and so important before we move into the next year. The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time 🙂 Thanks so much for commenting!
Some of my favorite things include my wonderful husband, my cuddly dog, and being able to write every day!
Charity, great list! It’s fantastic that you get the opportunity to write everyday too! Thank you for sharing on Twitter 🙂
Nice post – thanks. I love living in Vermont in a wonderful house with lots of land for walking in the woods with Ollie and the mountains for skiing.
Thank you James! I would love to live in Vermont, I think White Christmas has me sold 🙂 Even without the snow I imagine it’s beautiful there, I’m very drawn to further up north, maybe because it is closer to my native climate in Scotland. I would definitely like to visit Maine this year and Vermont is just next door!
And I will add, if you want to learn how to find joy in the small things, take a walk with a two year old in the woods or in nature. You will re-discover joy. It was not given to me by any person, place or thing. It’s grounded in the smallest unseen things, around us everyday.
A shooting star meant just for you. A cats purr, when all seems bleak. A baby’s finger grasping yours. An old mans smile. A song on the radio, just in time. A rainbow on the greyest day. A stranger not yet met. A baby not yet born. A corner not yet turned.
This is a wonderful list Candace! I agree wholeheartedly, that the smallest things, bring the greatest of joy. It is like we are hard-wired to enjoy this earth, if only we would open our eyes and remember! Thanks so much for sharing!
This is a beautiful post SK. By the way, I would have loved your choice in Christmas movie, haha. I wish more people desired to look for the good things as much as you do in this post. I’ve always said it’s about the little things, which make the big things that much bigger by comparison. Sometimes something small is all you have in the moment, and I’ve in part survived from the ability to make something seemingly minuscule into something magical and special. I love your list, thank you so much for sharing. Now I have the desire to watch the Sound of Music, perhaps I’ll do that while I do some writing today. I could thing of many more I’m sure, but right now, in the quiet hours of early morning when no one is awake, the lights of my Christmas tree and along my walls make me smile, and they are certainly one of my favorite things (besides books, always books).
Thanks so much for your lovely comments! Yes finding magic in the tiniest things is something I have always done from being a small child. When those around me would say there is no magic, I’d think, ‘you’re wrong, I only have to look around me’. Like you, it’s probably something that has saved me when things looked at there bleakest. Having the ability to appreciate the tiniest pleasures in life, is a simple but life giving one. I love, that you love your Christmas lights, Christmas has its own kind of special magic. Thanks again for sharing!
This is a great idea! (And a great excuse to buy a new journal!)
Thank you!
Thanks so much Jennifer! Yes having an excuse to buy a new journal is great!