What brings you JOY? Why do you HATE?

 I love this....and i bring my own joy....and were this size med. hanes t-shirt

 Lee - You bring it everywhere you go.  

 LIKE   

VERY interesting and useful suggestions MM! Ive stumbled onto a few of them by trial and error and can't wait to try out the rest  ..

Thank You ! 

Bravo, Beth! Way to make lemonade (SF, of course) from the lemons thrown at you!

Things that bring me joy:

My husband
My kids
My dog

Baby laughs
Fat puppy bellies

Good coffee
Most LOL cats :D
Honey badger

I would much rather enjoy the treasure of a few TRUE friends than a whole busload of fair weather friends.

Love you Beffie :)

Thank you......

It might be easy for some to turn off the news and pretend the world is all happiness and light but I work for a news media company and the bad news is in my face everyday.  I have had to complete several projects which resulted in mass layoffs and outsourcing of my co-workers.  The last one being this week.  My heart is heavy and I feel sick all the time.  My bf was contracted by the state and the program he worked with is being unfunded, he can find another job, but the patients he works with who have lost their services are the real victims.  Nothing feels good, even my sleep is tortured.  I don't have the heart for this stuff, I don't have a way to turn it off, the stress is impossible and the anxiety never ending.  It's like watching a sharp shooter standing on the roof picking off people one by one and you are just waiting for your turn.

My only happiness is my family of swans on their 8 month birthday.

Thank you, Beth, for a lovely and useful and healing post. Much needed and much appreciated.

I would write more and will write more later, but am pecking away on my iPhone in the LA airport.

You have no idea how MUCH I needed this today! Gonna try as many of these suggestions as I can...
Thank you!

re: #3.

I know this isn't realistic generally, but when we lost power for a couple of days last year I got the best sleep ever!  It occured to me if we shut it all down in the evening we'd be better off.  I imagine this is what people lived like a hundred years ago.

We had an oil lamp and played some board games and went to bed early (around 8:30pm=9pm.)  I really thought I would have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep especially as it was like this for two nights. 

I fell asleep with no problem and slept soundly.  I felt so different in the morning -so refreshed.  Part of me was kind of sorry when the power came back.  It just shows you how electric light has a huge disruption  and upset on our natural rythms.

This was awesome!

What brings me joy: 

Reconnecting with my cousins after a 20 year lapse.
Seeing my toes with an unobstructed view.
My best friend in the world.
Word studies (I know, I'm a geek).