14,000 Things to Be Happy About.: Newly Revised and Updated

Was suggested by a friend and so far I'm enjoying it.

A great gift for birthdays, anniversaries. Listing is varied; I have my friends read thru and annotate with their initials the items that bring them joy. I've done this in my copy of the book since the 90's.

If I had bought this book a year ago, I would have hated it. Probably because I didn't have anything in my life to be particularly unhappy about and this is just a bunch of random things that some random person I don't know finds interesting or appealing or enticing. But then my mom passed away about 6 months ago, out of the blue. After that, the things that had made me happy before didn't seem to matter or to be able to make me happy anymore. It put things into perspective. Without her, I didn't know how to not just be completely sad. I found and ordered this book on a whim, just reaching out for anything that might be able to make things a little better. I took the first blank page and actually wrote out why I needed help being happy and what I was feeling and going through. Then, each night before bed, I made myself read about 10 "things to be happy about." And I made myself write my own 10 things to be happy about right next to them, in the margins. I made myself do it every single night. And through my tears, I did find 10 things to be happy about each night, even if it was hard to get into that mindset. It helped me end my day on a positive note and to go to sleep thinking about things that were a little brighter and a little lighter. I was still sad (and still am, and part of me will always be), but it helped me to slow down, stop for a minute, and focus on what I did and do still have to be happy about in my life. Honestly, the 14,000 things to be happy about could have said anything. S'mores. Rainbows. The color orange. Extra long hugs. Slurping spaghetti noodles. It didn't matter to me. But the book in general - the idea and theme of it - was what helped me. I just needed to remind myself of what amazing people I still have around me and of the beautiful things in the world - which also made me remind myself of how big the world is and how I'm not alone in going through this. And not only do I feel a little happier now, but I have also identified potential changes in my life that might make me happier and I'm taking risks and making those changes to reach for that happiness. And I identified things in my life that didn't make me as happy as they should and removed myself from them (or am working to do so). This book is just about reminding yourself of why you should be happy, because there really is so much to be appreciative of. And it did a great job of that for me.

I bought a copy of this book for kindle; and have a dog-earred copy on my nightstand. God bless this Author. She inspired me decades ago to change my thinking and to be more aware of small joys and happinesses and pleasures. I owe her about 14,000 hugs. Thank you directly to Barbara Ann Kipfer, you are charming and I hope all your karma catches you up daily and hugs you. <3 The book lists things that make one happy. I have shared this book with so many people; have bought and given away more copies than I remember. A wonderful gift and people can't open the book to any random page and Not find at least one thing on each page that charms them and makes them smile. When I stumbled across this book I started reading through it and underlined things that spoke to me and dated them. It is a kind of diary for me to go back and look at my highlights and remember how old I was when specific things touched me. I was so inspired I started keeping my own book, and still will randomly jot things down to insert when I get home. I hope you give this book a chance and enjoy the smiles and the camraderie from sharing it, as I have.

At first I had to be in the mood to be happy: literally, if I started pondering whether some items in a row were truly happy-making, I could think my way out of it. But I discovered if I want to find happy thoughts that stop my mind from ruminating on bad things in my life, if I was to open my mind and heart to simple happy thoughts, this is a go-to book. Some of it is silly. Some of it is profound. Some of it makes me feel nostalgic, even wistful...but all this means is that it's not a purely superficial book if you don't want it to be. But sometimes you just want to land on items that make you smile or even giggle. Every page has several examples of that. I wonder how long it took the author to amass all these happy thoughts. And why is it so universal?

My family recently went through a tragic loss. While this book can not change or erase that lose and can never replace the life that we miss so dearly, it has helped one of the members of my family to appreciate some of the smaller things in life more and really helped her cope with the situation a lot. It is a very simplistic idea, one that anybody could do themselves if they opened up a word processor and started listing things that made them happy, but it is nice to be able to have such a list without literally having to sit at a word processor for however long it takes to type out FOURTEEN THOUSAND (14,000) of them their self! It is a nice, light read that you can skip around through and read over a long time to help raise your spirits a little bit. Excellent present idea if you know somebody who is struggling with some deep, heavy, difficult things in life.

I love having this on hand and just flipping to any page. There’s always something to be happy about. It’s such a simple concept.

It’s a cute little book, but honestly I think if you would take 2 minutes a day to jot down your own thoughts of what makes you happy or what you’d like to do, see, or be...it would be even better. It’s a long list of thoughts and dreams. Better to make your own Bucketlist of happiness than reading someone else’s.

The info gives a certain variety of reflection to smaller things to enjoy

Such an amazing book. Quite a good escape for a few hours, far from our lives and daily stress. I clearly recommend it

Ce livre m’a accompagné tout ma vie adulte. Je le garde dans la toilette. Il ne cesse de m’apporter de la joie et de la reconnaissance que il existe autour de nous, et très souvent gratuitement, des sources inépuisables de joie et de bonheur.

Es una libro diminuto y muy entretenido para llevar en el tren o en el bolso. Sin embargo, para quienes no conozcan muchas aspectos específicos de la cultura inglesa/amerciana, es difícil de entender. Merece la pena, y es un detonante de pequeñas sonrisas.

Good one