Isa Pang Recipe for Happiness

Hindi lumiligaya ang taong humahadlang sa ligaya ng iba.

My Recipe for Happiness for 2010

Last year was tough on me. My job does not give me financial stability, but it entails writing, which is one major reason why I stayed in it. I do not have an existing love life, but I am enjoying singlehood, too. I haven't written any new poems, but I have learned to be better at writing essays. That is the summary of 2009 for me.

So, with a cup of hot coffee in hand, I pondered to myself, "What can I do to make 2010 better?" I know that writing resolutions is over-rated. I also know that I can't stick to them, so why would I even bother? I was trying to cook up a fool-proof recipe for happiness for 2010.

Then, I remembered an advice that I gave to a friend. A few years back, a friend came to me and asked, "What can I do to be happy?" I've always believed in starting with the little things, so I said to her:

Look for the little things that makes you happy. For example, a Benson's Eclair or Butterball candy. It's easier to be happy that way. Compared to a big, happy event, smaller pieces of happiness, most of the time, come effortlessly. In time, you'll accumulate those small pieces. If you make a habit of being happy, you'll never run out of things to smile about.

Since I need to walk the talk, I thought that I'll try my own advice this year. Instead of doing resolutions, I've drawn up a list of things that made me happy last year that I will carry over to 2010. Because I already know that they make me happy, how can I not be, right? I think that it'll work, so here's the list of things that got me through 2009:

• my family and friends
• coffee and cigarettes
• DoTA and Warcraft
• blogging on Blogger in Draft
  
• my special fried chicken coated in honey sauce
• my dad's videoke machine
• my MP3 player
• Vienna Teng songs
• Lady Gaga songs
  
• Restaurant City on Facebook
• my Motorola Razr2
• Glee the TV series

I know that the list is not that long, but it's a good start. Those things really made me smile, so if I carry them over to 2010, I think I'll have enough of a head start to be happy all year long. If I'm lucky and keep my eyes, ears, and other senses open to other good things, maybe this year, my list of happy things will become longer.