Day 17: Ten Sure Items to put on your happiness list

As an avid list maker, I have been scouring the net and my cadre of friends (this is very scientific) to determine the top ten things that will make you happy instantly .  Of course you realize that instant happiness is short lived but it'll do in a pinch when other methods seem to fail.

Happiness lists are abounding on the net , in books, on TV.  We seem, as an American culture, especially to be overwhelmed with happiness options.  There are so many to try, that there might not be time left to actually enjoy them.


We have bucket lists and things we must do before we leave NYC or this earth (take your pick).  We have places to see, toys to own, new smart phones to confuse us, men to enjoy; women to enjoy (you choose your poison.)


We are told of the countless ways to ensure happiness; to find happiness, and to solicit happiness from those around you.  So, then I ask, why aren't we all ridiculously  happy?


I figure that there must be a happiness quotient that someone has invented much like the BMI.  My son told me recently to examine my healthy weight by looking at my BMI (body mass index) rather than just reflecting on the bathroom scale.  There is a method to his madness in that, as a regular exerciser...runner, I am gaining muscle and losing fat (hopefully) and so my weight should be going up since muscle weighs more than fat, thank God; what a great excuse!


Also, I am in a special BMI category for 2 reasons: one, I am a woman and we have more body fat by design than men and two: I am in the older age category and we have more body fat (by design?) than those beings who are younger than we are.  


So we have special scales designed by sex, age, and some other important characteristics.  So I am thinking that maybe our happiness quotients should be designed in the same way.  As a result, here are my top ten fantasy items for a quick happiness fix:

1. My son calls me for no other reason that he wants to hear my voice and we speak about lovely ordinary things as if we were sitting side by side in a park (Very "Our Town" of me).
2. Joe, decides to make the bed in the morning, prepare a special dinner, do the dishes and bring me an after dinner drink, just because...
3. My credit card bill gets paid by an unknown but giving person who asks for nothing in return but a smile.
4. My health care bill doesn't go up for at least one year
5. Someone washes Zeffy, my poodle, and places him fluffily on my lap; no questions asked
6. My best friend calls me and asks how I am and invites me over for a quiet lunch
7. Someone pays me back the money I lent him years ago with interest.
8. The price of gas goes down to where it was when I went to college...for at least 3 months.
9. Gene Kelly asks me to dance (remember this is a fantasy);  Fred Astaire asks me to dance;
10. Cary Grant tells me I remind him of Deborah Kerr (if you don't know who she is, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog.)

Well most of these items are impossible I admit but a few of them have serious potential.  Let's hope someone who is reading this blog, sees himself as the answer to my happiness list and follows through,  wouldn't that be heaven.