448-How Does Stuff Make You Happy?

Do you have items in your house that bring you happiness? Today, I share a story with you about my items that provide happiness and why!  

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and last year my family cleaned out my grandmother's house, after over a hundred years in the house.  My great-grandparents built the house, my grandfather was born in the same room he slept in as an adult.  There is a lot of stuff.  And a lot of people have feelings about this stuff.  My grandparents had 17 kids - there are a lot of people that have feelings and opinions on the stuff.  So, it got me thinking.  What stuff would make me happy?  It’s nostalgic.  It’s not of value monetarily, but that connection to your ancestors, the ones that came before you. 

 

As much as I want to declutter, (if you listened to episode 447, you know all things decluttering), it also makes me happy to walk to my basement and pass by my grandfather’s framed records from his days in a polka band.  It makes me happy to open the cabinet under the TV with the knobs that came from a piece of furniture that traveled from Germany to the US when my great-grandparents immigrated.  My grandmother gave me these knobs when she was alive and shared with me their significance.  It’s so special to me.  These things are not tucked away in a box for posterity, but part of my everyday life.     

 

My mother in law was moving and I told her how much I liked this little painting of a chickens it was a mama chicken and three baby chicks  - it said, “Dear Lord, help me to endure my blessings” the little chickens looked like they were running around like crazy. Her mother painted it free hand, 40 years ago when her kids were little and it hung in her bathroom.  She gifted it to me, and I see it when I walk into my bathroom.   

 

And so, it’s not about the quantity but the quality.  None of the things that make me happy are objectively valuable, but they make me happy, and that’s value enough for me.   

 

I invite you to look around, what are the things that really matter to you.  Whether it’s a family heirloom or the perfect accessory that makes you smile when you see it. 

 

Share with me what that is, I’d love to know.  I’m over at @everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram.

 

Until next time, remember, Kindness is Contagious.  

 

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