(The “watercolor Haftsin . . . Happy Norouz” photograph is courtesy of my paintings).
“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.” —Anonymous
Make a goal to celebrate life in some way, however small, every day. Below you will find a list of 50 simple joys to help remind you to slow down, celebrate life, and enjoy the moment!
1. Have afternoon tea “alfresco”. Find a small coffee shop with tables set up outside; or pack a picnic basket—filled with iced tea, chicken salad from the deli, scones, and a warm, crusty loaf of French bread–and head out to the park.
2. Go for a bike ride.
3. Plant pots of brightly colored flowers; you can choose to plant camellias, violets, and geraniums. For fragrant blossoms plant jasmines.
4. Adopt a child through Christian Children’s Fund or any organization that helps children in need and that you trust. Is there a better way to celebrate life than by lending a helping hand to a child?
5. Renew a relationship with someone you’ve lost touch with.
6. Create a collage of pictures of your loved ones, frame it, and hang it up in a visible spot in your home.
7. Blow bubbles.
8. Get a delicious, gooey brownie and savor every morsel.
9. Arranging beautiful flowers in a vase is a simple, exquisite pleasure.
10. Give someone you love a gift “just-because”. Better yet, make it a care package or a gift basket filled with their favorite things: flavored coffee, a great mug, and the book they’ve been wanting to read; microwave popcorn and all of the “Indiana Jones” movies on DVD; their favorite scented bath products; and so on.
11. Get your picture taken by a professional photographer.
12. Create a butterfly garden in your yard by choosing butterfly-friendly plants for your garden.
13. Stretch out on your couch with a compendium of your favorite cartoon, read it through from beginning to end, and laugh until your stomach hurts.
14. Join a session of a laughter yoga club.
15. Whistle.
16. Learn to bake peach cobbler.
17. Eat berries fresh from the farmer’s market
18. Hunt for bird nests. When you find one, don’t touch it, just look.
19. Start taking small steps to help the environment: car pool; recycle glass bottles; use pieces of scrap paper to write down your grocery list; change all of the light bulbs in your house to fluorescent light bulbs; and so on.
20. Make a donation: donate your time at a food shelter; invest in a third world country entrepreneur through www.kiva.com; donate blood; donate clothes you no longer use to a battered women’s shelter; donate children’s books to a hospital nearby; celebrate life by paying it forward.
21. Listen to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”.
22. Sing in the shower.
23. Do something that gives you a sense of luxury. You can get a leather notebook to jot down your thoughts, or a beautiful fountain pen. Start collecting fanciful note cards so that you have them on hand when you want to send a hand-written “thank you”.
24. If you love reading, join a book club. Sharing your love of literature with others is a great way to celebrate life.
25. Watch the sunset.
26. Watch the sunrise.
27. Drink champagne for no reason at all.
28. Wear audacious underwear. Nobody has to know.
29. Buy a bird feeder—or even better, build one—and hang it in a place where you can see it often.
30. Go outside at night—or climb up to your building’s rooftop—and look at the stars.
31. Stop and really listen to a street musician.
32. Go to a pet shop and “ooh” and “aah” at the puppies and kittens.
33. Simmer apple cider, cinnamon, and cloves in water on your stove
34. Play a game you loved as a child: play with marbles or jacks; jump rope; play hopscotch; draw with colored chalk on the sidewalk; get some Play-Doh; or go to a park and climb on the swings.
35. Whenever you take on a task at work ask yourself: “Is there any way to make this task more pleasurable?”
36. Write a love letter to your partner.
37. Enroll in a dance class–modern dancing, belly dancing, ball-room dancing, salsa dancing, etc.; you can go alone, go with a couple of friends you wish you could get together with more often, or with your partner.
38. Sit down with a large art book filled with Impressionist paintings by artists such as Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pisarro, Degas . . .
39. Find a shampoo and conditioner that smell like watermelon.
40. Walk barefoot in the grass.
41. Go out for a walk in the rain. Deliberately step in puddles.
42. Visit antique stores and flea markets until you find the perfect brass knocker for your front door, one that makes you smile every time you’re about to enter your home.
43. Buy the softest terry cloth robe you can find and put in the drier just before taking a shower, so that it’s nice and warm when you get out of the shower and put it on.
44. Get a bright red umbrella.
45. Go out for a walk and take your camera along; take photographs of interesting faces.
46. Listen to jazz.
47. Eat your favorite cereal from when you were a child: Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cap’n Crunch, etc.
48. Listen to your favorite “Beatles” songs.
49. Count fireflies at dusk.
50. Throw open the windows and yell out at the top of your lungs: “thank you”!
“There are no little things. Little things are the hinges of the universe.” — Fannie Fern
How do you celebrate life every day?
– Marelisa
译文:
每天50种方式庆祝生命
“Haftsin水彩···Norouz快乐”这张相片是我画的恩惠。
人生的悲剧不是它这么快就结束，而是我们等待这么久才能开始。 -无名氏
每天以某种方式确立一个目标来庆祝生命，即使这个目标很小。下面列出的50个简单的乐事来提醒你要慢下来庆祝生命，还有，享受那一刻。
1.喝下午茶。找一个屋外设有桌子的小咖啡店，或者包一个野餐篮里面放满冰茶，德利鸡肉沙拉，烤饼，温热的法国硬皮面包去公园野餐。
2.骑自行车
3.种植一些颜色鲜艳的花。你可以选择山茶花，紫罗兰和天竺葵。为了花香可以可以种茉莉花。
4.通过你相信地基督教儿童基金会或任何机构领养一个孩子，帮助需要帮助的儿童。难道还有这更好的方式来庆祝你的生命吗？
5.重新联系你曾经失去联系的人。
6.弄一个亲人的拼贴照片，放在相框里并把它挂在你家里显眼的地方。
7.吹泡沫。
8.买一块美味的布朗尼蛋糕，然后细细品尝。
9.把美丽的鲜花插在花瓶里，这是一个简单精致的乐趣。
10.送你喜欢的人礼物。最好把它弄成她们喜欢的包装盒或者礼物篮，里面装满她们喜欢的东西:美味的咖啡，一个大杯子和一本她们一直想读的书；微波爆米花，所有的“印第安纳琼斯”电影的DVD和她们喜欢的芳香沐浴露等等。
11.让一个专业摄影师帮你照相。
12.在你的院子里选择蝴蝶喜欢的植物创建一个蝴蝶园。
13.伸展四肢躺在沙发上看你最喜爱的漫画，从头到尾把它看一遍,笑到肚子疼为止。
14.参加一段时间的众笑瑜伽俱乐部。
15.吹口哨。
16.学会烤脆皮深盘桃子馅饼。
17.去农贸市场吃新鲜浆果去农贸市场
18.寻找鸟巢。发现鸟巢时不要惊动它，看看就好了。
19.开始采取小小行动保护环境如：合伙用车，回收的玻璃瓶，用废纸记下杂货店名单，把你房子里所有的灯泡改成萤光灯泡等等。
20.捐赠。花一点时间在食物储存室; 通过www.kiva.com为第三世界国家的企业家投资;献血;捐赠你不穿了的衣物给受虐妇女的庇护所; 给附近一家医院捐赠儿童书籍，以把公益事业不断向前推进来庆祝生命。
21.听维瓦尔第的“四季”。
22.在淋浴时唱歌。
23.做一些让你感觉舒服的事情。你可以拿一本皮具笔记本或一个美丽的水笔，草草记下您的想法。开始收集你设计新颖的便条卡，那样你就可以拿在手上随时送别人手写的“谢谢”。
24.如果你喜欢读书，那么你可以加入读书俱乐部。和别人分享你喜爱的文学作品是庆祝生命一种非常好的方式。
25.看日落。
26.看日出。
27.没有任何目的的喝香槟。
28.穿着前卫的内衣。没有人会知道的。
29.买一个鸟食罐，最好自己做一个。把它挂在你经常可以看见的地方。
30.夜晚爬上屋顶看星星。
31.停下来，认真听街头歌手唱歌。
32.去宠物店用小狗和小猫的叫声对着它们叫。
33.在你的炉灶上用水煮苹果酒，桂皮和丁香。
34.像一个小孩那样玩你喜欢的游戏：玩弹珠或抛石游戏，跳绳，造房子游戏，用彩色粉笔在人行道上画画得到培乐多彩泥或去公园荡秋千。
35.无论你在什么时候实行任务都要问问自己：“有没有什么方法使这项工作更加愉快。
36.写一封情书给你的爱人。
37.参加舞蹈班—现代舞，肚皮舞，交谊舞，萨尔萨舞蹈等等。你可以自己去，和你希望可以经常呆在一起的朋友去，或者和你的伴侣一起去。
38.坐下来看一本大大的美术书，里面满是印象派画笔的美术家，如莫奈，雷诺瓦，西斯利，毕沙罗，德加······
39.找一种西瓜味的洗发水和护发素。
40.赤着脚走在草地上。
41.在雨中散步，故意踩进水洼里。
42.去逛古董店和跳蚤市场直到你发现在你每次进入家门之前使你开心的完美的铜管乐器上门推销员。
43.买一件你可以找到柔软的绒穗品浴衣，在你洗澡之前把它放进干燥机里，那样你洗完澡出来穿上它的就很暖和了。
44.买一把鲜艳的红伞。
45.带上相机出去散步，拍你感兴趣的脸。
46.听爵士乐。
47.享受那些你从儿时开始就非常喜爱的谷类制品：带有很多圈圈的水果，散发着魅力幸运星香水味道的饮料，甜甜脆脆的苹果，还有嘎吱嘎吱船长牌的麦片等等。
48.听你喜爱的甲壳虫乐队的歌。
49.在黑暗里数萤火虫。
50.完全打开窗户用尽全力大喊一声：“谢谢”！
没有任何事物是渺小的，因为整个宇宙都是由微小的事物组成的。
——Fannie Fern
你每天是怎样庆祝生活的呢？
– 马尔丽莎