The constant drama of unhappy or shocking events, and certainly of their totality, might lead us to think that we need equally Technicolor counter-examples to get relief, but I disagree. I think a healthy bread-and-butter mental diet of Ordinary Positive things is the best antidote to crazy-making crises. 

Fortunately, Ordinary Positives are ready to hand if we pay attention and tally them in the plus column rather than writing them off. That's what I need to do for myself, and I offer them to you, too. 

Everything I write about here is from my life, just simple vignettes of interactions and observations that provide me a foundation for living and a backdrop to daily experience. They cover a wide range of topics and a long span of years. They are all true, However Improbable that might seem. I don't tart them up or merge some together to make them more exciting.

As I savor them in memory, I put them into categories: things I have observed, conversations I've had, surprises that have made me happy, kindnesses I have received (too many to recall), and pleasures I didn't expect. Those are the categories here.

The key to recognizing Ordinary Positives is paying attention. If we're lost in our thoughts all the time, we miss things. For instance, a trip to the grocery might be just another chore, or it might be the Unexpected Pleasure of chatting briefly over the organic tomatoes with someone interesting. Walking to the bus could just be a daily trudge, or it could be a pleasurable Observation as you notice the little changes day by day: the tiny wildflowers blooming, the unkempt lawn mowed, the new swingset in someone's back yard, someone to wave to.