O. Henry, master of the surprise ending and one of my favorite authors, once wrote:

"You can't appreciate home until you've left it, money till it's spent, your wife till she's joined a women's club, nor Old Glory till you see it hanging on a broomstick on the shanty of a consul in a foreign town."

Plenty has been written about gratitude and being thankful.  An article by Harvard Health cited a study by two psychologists who divided a study group into three categories: one who wrote about things they were thankful for, one who wrote about things that irritated them, and one who wrote about things affecting them with no positive or negative emphasis.  Unsurprisingly, the first group was found, at the end of 10 weeks, to be more optimistic and even in better health than the others. 

Another study in 2008 found that "gratitude causes synchronized activation in multiple brain regions, and lights up parts of the brain’s reward pathways and the hypothalamus. In short, gratitude can boost neurotransmitter serotonin and activate the brain stem to produce dopamine," which is the brain's pleasure chemical.

Thankfulness, among plenty of other things, is something I'm currently working on in my own life.  I find that I have a tendency to be focused on overcoming a perceived negative instead of shifting that focus to all the things that are going right at the moment.  Like the O. Henry quote, sometimes we're not aware of how good things are until things change or something forces us to readjust our focus.  Since I'd rather recount my blessings while I still have them and since thankfulness should be found in even in the smallest of joys, I wrote a list of "tiny joys," very small (and I do mean very small ) things that make me feel happy.

- the feel of freshly laundered socks

- the perfectness of a newly mowed lawn

- the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking

- when your dog cuddles up next to you and sighs

- the perfect music for a soundtrack on a sunny afternoon car drive

- the quiet stillness of the middle of a briskly, cold night

- laughing until you cry and your stomach hurts

- dressing perfectly appropriate for the weather, neither too hot nor cold

- when your plant sprouts a flower or a new leaf

- arriving perfectly on time to an appointment

- receiving a text from someone you were just thinking about

- the first time you see progress toward a goal you've been working for

- sleeping deeply the entire night

- a full gas tank and the feeling you could go anywhere at a moment's notice

- watching movies in a chilly room under a soft, fuzzy blanket

- receiving a package you've been waiting for

- seeing the difference between before and after pictures

- having dinner with someone you love

- fast forwarding through commercials and stopping exactly as your show starts again

- when someone else's pet likes you

- warm chili on a cold day

- looking at pictures that remind you of fantastic times

- waking up in time to see a sunrise

- perfectly comfortable clothes that also make you look good

- being inside, warm and dry, during a thunderstorm

These might seem silly, but I am working at taking time to enjoy the small things in life, paying attention to even the tiniest of blessings that I've been given, and being grateful.  If it helps to rewire my brain and make me a happier person in the process, all the better!  What would you add to the list?