December 13, 2017.

9:08 p.m.

Tonight I was happy.

I saw my dog hopping around in the snow outside chasing after the ball. That’s his favorite thing to do, I think. He’ll chase the ball for hours on end. I threw on my coat, gloves, scarf, and boots and walked outside to join him. As he bounced around the backyard, I turned away for a moment and breathed.

I breathed in the fresh winter air accompanied by the new snow floating down. I threw the ball again. I turned again, this time to appreciate the familiar white powder that was covering my once green grass. I smiled, and then I laughed out loud. I summoned my eight-year-old self and started to pick up snow and throw it up into the air and let it cover me as I twirled. I realized that I was happy.

I discovered that with everything on my mind, I can still appreciate the simplest things that can bring me joy.

My dog continued to hop around in the snow looking for his ball in the mounds of white. He was paying no attention to the frigid substance he was engulfed in because all he was thinking about was the ball.

I think about too many things at once sometimes.

I gazed around my backyard; it looks so different on a winter night than it does on a summer day. The lights that we have hanging from tree to tree illuminated the yard and bounced off of the white snow blanket. In the summer, the yard is lit by the lights, but not in the same way. It made me happy to see the differences in a familiar place.

While standing out in the snow, for a moment, I didn’t feel cold. I didn’t feel cold because I was focused on the beauty of the moments I was living in. I felt warmed by the happiness that surrounded me in this familiar place. It was around 20 degrees out, yet I still felt warm.

So now, I am sitting by the fire inside. I am sipping on hot chocolate with a generous layer of whipped cream. I am texting and snapchatting two of my friends in newly created group chats, and I am laughing. I am laughing out loud while sitting alone; this is something I haven’t done in a while.

My friends made me happy. My hot chocolate made me happy. My fireplace made me happy. My dog made me happy. The snow made me happy. I made me happy.

I’m happy tonight.