***14,000 Things To Be Happy About

by Barbara Ann Kipfer

Reviewed October 2, 2003.
Workman Publishing, New York, 1990.  612 pages.
Available for $7.95 on Amazon.com

This book is exactly what it says it is—A list of 14,000 things to be happy about.

The list is quirky, silly, thought-provoking and funny.  Here are a few examples:

“Perseid meteor showers.”
“turning off all the lights except those on the Christmas tree”
“playing hooky to do something you don’t ordinarily have time for”
“uncovering an unexpected patch of wildflowers”
“practicing speaking French”
“enlarging a favorite photo”
“alternating between reading a novel and looking at the hilltop skyline”
“getting mail”
“the secret urge to expedite the person ahead of you through a revolving door”
“rain at night, if you’re safe in bed”
“the ability of parents to guide their small children around by the tops of their heads”

I especially like the ones that I always thought were things to be annoyed about.  What good news to realize these are actually things to be happy about!

“unread textbooks”
“crazy kids”
“cold hands”
“making clarinets squeak”
“buying T-shirts and short-sleeve shirts on the first day of spring, and then having a blizzard on that night”
“feeling blue”
“overdue library books”
“the gap in the dressing room curtain that can never be completely closed”
“having an unfortunate knack for approaching a set of double doors and always pushing the locked one”

It’s hard to read a few pages of this book without feeling more grateful for life’s many good gifts.  I recommend reading a page or two each day to put a dose of gratitude in your life.