If you want to feel great, take time to list 100 things you love, things that make you happy or that simply tickle your fancy.  I just did this and my heart is open, so very wide and deep.

I thought I might have trouble coming up with 100, but once I started, it was difficult to stop. It was actually kind of exciting. As I was making my list, I realized that this exercise not only opens the heart, but it also opens new possibilities, hope and faith for a fulfilling future.

As a suggestion, make a list of 100 things that you love. (Alternatively you can list 50 things you love to do, 50 things you love to experience, and/or 50 things you love to see, smell, taste and/or feel.)  It doesn’t matter how big or how small those items are. It can be something small, like what tantalizes your taste buds? (For example, I love barbecue potato chips.) Or it can be an experience that you love, like what makes you laugh so hard that your stomach hurts? (I like silly jokes…the kind that a four-year-old might tell.) Make your list; take as long or as little short as you like. Do it all at once or keep adding to your list. It’s amazing how fast you’ll begin to feel good.

And while you are on a roll – you could write a list of 50 things that you like about yourself. This can be life-transforming. We spend so much time focusing on what we don’t like about ourselves that it can be exhilarating to just focus on what’s wonderful. They can be big things or small things…here’s a couple from my list of things that I like about myself:

• I have a great sense of rhythm. (Okay, not the dance-in-time-with-the-teacher-in-the-gym rhythm—I’m always the gal in the back row going left, when everyone else is going right.) But I can carry a pretty good beat on a drum.

• My voice is relaxing. I can’t sing to save my life, but I have a soothing voice to do guided meditations. People say I put them to sleep with my voice . . . and I think that’s a compliment?

 After you do your list of things splendid about you, I guarantee that you will have only just scratched the surface of how awesome you are.

100 Things I Love . . .  in no particular order.

(Okay, I squeezed in more than 100, but 100 sounds good).

1. 1. My husband, David, and his calm sense of humor and his non-judgment (especially about me.) For example, I recently accidentally ran into his truck with my car in our driveway. And he said calmly, “These things happen, we’ll have to get that fixed.” Awesome huh?
   2. My daughter, Meadow, and her gracious kindness. She inspires me to look for the good in every person and every situation.
   3. Laughing with abandon as I watch James and Clara, my young grandchildren, and their wild, amazing, ecstatic free-form dance moves.
   4. Laughing at silly jokes, or just laughing just for the heck of it. I love it when people laugh so hard telling their joke, that they can’t finish it.
   5. Having a totally clean and clutter-free, organized home…this juices me like nothing else. One of the best gifts I ever received was a friend volunteering to help me clean my home. I was in heaven!
   6. The smell of a freshly mown grass or hay
   7. Shooting stars
   8. Cloud watching – oh what messages they hold!
   9. Taking a photo at the exact right moment
   10. GPS

1. 11. Pizza (albeit gluten free)
   12. Finding a great bargain
   13. Science fiction – books and movies
   14. The sound of a rain on a tin roof or the sound of a curtain of summer rain rapidly approaching
   15. Waking up to the sound of bird song or a rooster crowing
   16. Just about any NASA image
   17. Campfires on starry nights or bonfires on a beach
   18. Music while driving; it feels like I’m playing the soundtracks to my life
   19. Ravens, red-winged black birds, blue birds, vultures, crows and house finches
   20. Wind socks, wind art, wind chimes

• 21. Dark chocolate . . . oh, yeah!
  22. Finding joy in the tiniest of things…like the shadow of a rose on the wall, or a ladybug landing on my balcony, or the smell of coffee brewing
  23. Giving myself up to a force greater – the Creator/stars/love
  24. Taking an outdoor shower on a hot day
  25. Elderly couples in love
  26. Hugging our sweet German Shepard, Bella, and petting our cats, Muse and Zydeco
  27. Trying to comprehend the sheer size of the universe
  28. The sound of crunching autumn leaves under my feet
  29. The kindness of strangers
  30. Learning something new

• 31. Randomly catching a smell that reminds me of a certain place or time
  32. Reading Harry Potter all over again
  33. Getting an answer to a prayer
  34. Binging on Grey’s Anatomy
  35. Hanging out with people that accept me for who I am (with all my imperfections)
  36. Burying my face in a rose . . . and inhaling
  37. A cozy nap in the sunlight, or really . . . napping anywhere
  38. Fog and mist in all its forms
  39. Comfy, oversized pajamas
  40. A hot bath with a decadent amount of Epsom salt

1. 41. Essential oils – love them! Really love them!
   42. Stones of all kinds and gem fairs
   43. My husband’s cooking. He knocks it out of the ballpark every night.
   44. Not wearing a bra, whenever I can
   45. Creating art in all forms
   46. Seeing people who are genuinely happy
   47. Beeswax candles
   48. Natural incense
   49. Online shopping
   50. LOVE Christmas – the nostalgic music, over-the-top decorations, cooking, sappy Christmas movies, decorating the tree, lights . . . well everything about Christmas

1. 51. Sneezing
   52. Elizabeth Gilbert and all she stands for
   53. Coffee shops with great espresso
   54. Huge thunder and lightening storms and rainy days with pounding rain
   55. Of course, rainbows
   56. Listening to Country Western music while ironing
   57. Getting lost in a great book
   58. Cordless vacuums – how did I get along without them?
   59. The movie – The Family Stone
   60. Shopping in independently owned shops in small country towns

1. 1. 61. Any kind of road trip
      62. Viggo Mortensen – what a great actor!
      63. New Age stores and most bookstores
      64. On a dark night, hearing a train whistle in the distance
      65. Silver hoop earrings
      66. True time traveling stories and UFO stories
      67. Losing myself in a dance where I dissolve into the rhythm
      68. Getting into a bed with clean sheets – heaven!
      69. Catching the morning sun peek over the distant mountains
      70. Singing aloud with a cheesy song in the car, in the aisle of a grocery store, an elevator…well, just about anywhere where cheesy music is played

1. 1. 71. Sharing Thanksgiving holiday with loads of people that I love
      72. The first snow
      73. Scented geraniums
      74. Lilacs, roses and daffodils
      75. The smell of beeswax candles after they have been blown out
      76. Receiving unexpected money in the mail
      77. Listening to the ocean with a window open, on a warm night
      78. Having a full tank of gas
      79. The sound of tree frogs
      80. Reading haiku, writing haiku

1. 1. 81. The songs of red-wing blackbirds
      82. Helping someone’s dreams come true
      83. Libraries in small towns
      84. Handmade pottery and handwoven fabrics
      85. Window nooks
      86. Seashells
      87. Swimming in a saltwater pool
      88. Hammocks
      89. Windchimes – really good ones
      90. Taking photographs in nature

1. 1. 91. Reading glasses
      92. Slowing down, just before seeing a hidden police car waiting for speeders
      93. Watching popcorn pop
      94. Colored pencils
      95. Sushi, Thai food, Mexican food, Indian food, Italian food . . . okay I guess I just love food
      96. Creating something beautiful out of something old and discarded
      97. Pouring a fizzy drink to into a glass that looks like it’s going to overflow, and then it recedes down just in time
      98. Pumpkin pie
      99. Swelling with pride at all my gracious, courageous daughter has achieved in her life
      100. The smell of onions and garlic cooking

1. 101. 101. Grilled zucchini
        102. The crackle of a fire in the fireplace on a cold night
        103. Not being on a computer
        104. My Facebook community – Wow!
        105. Ironing my pajamas (Okay, it’s weird, but who doesn’t love to put on perfectly ironed PJs?)
        106. Feathers that seem to magically float down from the sky
        107. Mysterious, magical unexplained events in life
        108. All the dishes done and all the kitchen counters cleared
        109. Unexpected windfalls and good luck!
        110. My glorious, fabulous, remarkable friends!!!!

“I believe in the majesty of every individual.”

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