Ten things which make me happiest (Things that make you happy)

Member Name: buckhysen

Product:	Things that make you happy
Date:	25/02/09 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smiles, fun and lots of laughter :o)

Disadvantages: Probably not of much interest if you don't me

Well seeing as though I've had an extremely long and tiring 10 days or so I thought I'd write one of these to cheer myself up above anything else :o)

Like everyone else I have my bad, stressful days but I'm often told I'm a very happy person, and that's how I like to live my life.... having fun and enjoying all life has to offer.
So here are the ten things that make me happy.

10. My morning cup of Tea
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Quite simply I can't function in the morning without a cup of Tea. I absolutely love Tea, I mean really love it! Ever since I can remember I've woken up to a cup of Tea and although I think sometimes I'm addicted to Diet Coke, Tea is the one drink that really puts a smile on my face.
A few years ago I bought one of those 'Biggest cups in the World' so that I could save time going to the kettle lol.
I try not to drink huge amounts as I'm sure it's not good for you, but then again nothing is good for you these days, but 3 or 4 huge cups a day does me fine.

9. TV and DVD's
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I'm not a huge TV/DVD watcher, in fact in recent months I've been so busy with work, raising my kids and going out that I probably, on average only watch about an hour a night, 2 at most, and then a few hours over the weekend. But because of Sky+ I find it a lot easier to watch exactly what I want, when I want to watch it, which means when I do get chance to sit down and chill out with the TV or a DVD, I really do appreciate and enjoy it.
It's my time to myself and a chance for me to watch what I want without any interruptions.

In the past year I have discovered programmes like Dragon's Den, Kitchen Nightmares and Harry Hill's TV burp and I really enjoy catching up with these whenever I have a spare hour or two.

8. Days out
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Having two kids I like to take them out for days out whenever possible, especially during school holidays when there is more time.
I have not driven for 3 years now (Through choice) but I have some very good friends who we go out for the day with, or we jump on a train somewhere.

I think these days out are vital in spending time with your kids, friends and family and just having a day of no worries and lots of fun.

Although we don't go abroad for these days out, although I'm hoping to change this soon, we have visited some fantastic places around the UK. Some of our favourites include Brean/Weston, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Bourton & Stowe.
Not all of these will be well known to everyone but sometimes you find a place and you just fall in love with it. We have found places like this quite a few times in the last few years and whether we go with friends, on our own, by car or train we always ensure we have the best time we can.

7. Pubs/Beer gardens/Meal
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I gave up drinking alcohol over 3 years ago now, mainly due to the fact my ex was an alcoholic but also because I got sick and tired of the taste and of hangovers. In saying that I still really enjoy going to quieter pubs and bars, pub meals and beer gardens.
I live in an area of town where I literally have about 40 pubs within 5 minutes walk of my front door, which sounds awful but because I live in a quiet street it is a very nice area. A lot of these pubs and bars are not catered for children so we often find we end up going to nice country style pubs with beer gardens and nice pub meals.

Obviously beer gardens are only really an option with nicer weather but we do like to get out to one of these bigger country style pubs at least once a week to go and have a meal and catch up with friends.
There are some nice big pubs within a mile or so of where I live and I always find getting out and about to these makes me smile, keeps my kids happy and it's a good way to meet new friends sometimes.

6. Annual Holiday to Lowestoft
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Every year we go and visit relatives in Lowestoft and Oulton Broad, for those who don't know, this is the most Easterly point of the UK and easily my favourite place in the whole of this country. I absolutely love it there!

Whether it's all the things to do, being so close to the beach or seeing a lot of relatives we only see once or twice a year, I'm not sure. Personally I think it's all three which always makes our week or fortnight there one not to forget.

Every year we pack in so much and have the most wonderful time with huge smiles on our faces. I'm sure everyone has a place in the World where they fall in Love with, and this is mine.

My parents used to go every year before I was born and then took myself and my Brother there almost every year from the year we were born. Now I am in my mid 30's along with all my cousins who I used to play with as a child, and now we take our kids there and keep the family ties going.

I always say I would love to live there one day, but in truth I think I'd rather just visit once or twice a year so that it remains a place which gives me so much happiness when I visit, rather than a place I grow to tire of.

I still find it amazing that after all these years, going to visit relatives on the East coast can still make me feel like a child when I get there. I think you need some things in life that bring out the kid in you and make you feel total happiness without any worry of everyday life whatsoever, and this is one of the things that does it for me.

5. Making short films
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First things first, I am by no means an expert at making short films, and I do this purely as a fun hobby and to forget about the stresses of work and every day life once in a while. But it is something that brings me so much fun and laughter I hope I'm still making these for a long time to come.

A few years ago my best friend and myself were messing about with my video camera and decided to make a short comedy film taking the mickey out of Gangsters on TV (Mainly The Krays and the Mitchell Brother's in Eastenders). We had such a laugh making the video that from there things just grew and grew and the 'Shavalah Brothers' were born.... Youtube was growing and gave us a place to share our videos and although not everyone gets the sense of humour they have become quite popular over the past two or three years.

Not only do we have a great laugh making these videos but now a lot of our friends and family have asked to get involved so it has evolved and grown and now there are far more of us enjoying the fun of these videos.
As I said, we are no means experts and quite often we make up stories and ideas as we go along, but this is what makes it so much fun and so funny as we often come up with the most ridiculous things that brings out the child in all of us.

4. Live concerts
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When I was 17/18 I worked for an import CD company, it was only very tiny with a staff of about 15 of us but even to this day it was the best job I ever had.
My Boss used to give us younger staff (6 of us) incentives to sell albums and products by offering us free concert tickets, so in the space of about 18 months I went to around 120 concerts and had the time of my life.
This was back in 1990/91 and although we were only young because we were offered free tickets and coach travel we used to go to two or three gigs a week and see artists we had never heard of.

Back then most gigs were standing only and nowhere near as organised as they are now, and what with that and going to so many concerts, by the time I was in my late teens I was sick to death of going to concerts and the hassle, so I stopped going.

Although I went to a few concerts over the years I never really enjoyed them much, most were standing and I just became fed up of concerts in general.
Then two years ago I finally got the chance to see my hero Billy Connolly, after failing to get tickets for so long I was not disappointed when I finally went, and from that moment on I fell in love with going to watch big live acts again.
Since then I have been to around 20 concerts in the past two years and enjoyed every single one of them. And I am so glad that once again this has put a smile on my face and made me happy. And once again I have that buzzing feeling I used to have as an 18 year old when I come away from a gig.

I think perhaps I needed the long break after going to so many concerts at a young age, but I'm so glad that I now am going again and really enjoying it.

3. Catching up with friends
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Over the years I have made and lost a lot of friends. As with everyone, people come in and out of your life all the time. Some only for a few weeks or months, others for years and years.
At the moment I would say I have quite a lot of friends, although only a handful of those I would call lifelong/Real friends. I mean the one's you see more than once a week, the ones that often phone you to see how you are, make more of an effort than simply sending a text, email or sending you a useless application on facebook.

Therefore, one thing that I really appreciate above almost anything else now, especially now I and most of my friends approach their 40's and have families of their own is spending time with my good friends. It doesn't really matter whether it is at the pub, bowling, a day out or just catching up with a coffee. I have come to realise that my good friends, who I know now really are great friends really do make me happy and help put a smile on my face.
It is true, you really cannot have enough good friends and most of the time I find that my friends keep me smiling, with lots of laughter along the way.

2. My best friend/Our world
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The 'Our World' bit above won't mean anything to anyone, but myself and my oldest and best friend, Rich really do have our own little world of humour which not many people totally get or understand.

I have known Rich since I was about 5 years old and we have been best mates since we were 14. Yes we have fallen out over the years but never anything serious and in the past few years we have been closer than ever before as friends.

The 'Our World' reference above really won't mean anything to anyone and it is quite hard to explain but quite simply we find we have so much in common when it comes to our sense of humour that we really do sometimes live in our own World of humour that only a few truly get and understand.

Whether we are making silly films, go out for the day, go to the pub, play Pro Evolution soccer together or just hanging out we just constantly seem to be in fits of laughter over anything and everything, and that is why I would put my best mate down as the 2nd thing in life that makes me the happiest.

Rich is one of the few people who can consistently make me cry with laughter almost everytime I see him. Even when we chat on the phone quickly we end up laughing at things, which probably wouldn't make much sense to many but to us it's hilarious.
I think everyone has someone like this in their life, someone who is simply on the same wavelength and you instantly click with.

Over the years we have both been in long relationships and had periods where we don't see each other as much, but we've always stayed in touch and I think that is why we've remained such good friends.

1. My adorable girls
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Yeah I know, I'm biased! But honestly I have nothing but love and admiration for my two girls. They have gone through such a lot at such a young age with their Mother and to see how happy and content they are amazes me every single day. There really isn't a day goes past when they don't put a smile on my face.

Don't get me wrong, they drive me nuts sometimes and they argue and play up like any other kids sometimes and there are times when I think 'Am I doing a good job?, 'Could I have done that better?', etc but sometimes when we are out I look at how other children behave or how rude, sad or disrupted other children can be and I smile for my own children, because I think, after all they have gone through they could easily now be very troubled girls who want to take their anger and frustrations out on others/life. But they don't, they are just two sweet, well mannered girls who make me smile every single day.

As they get older I find I admire them more and more each day and we have more and more fun in life. I look at some parents and their children almost seem an annoyance to them or that they are in the way. I love both my girls and want to spend time with them.

Like any family we have our off days and we shout and argue with each other, we fall out and we sulk. But the laughs and happy days far outweigh the days/times when we are annoyed or fed up with each other.
My two girls quite simply make me happier than anything else in life.

Summary: Smile at least once everyday and appreciate what you have in life!