Twenty-five simple things that make me smile

By Djembe Archibald

Jan 7, 2025

My number 20, Suzy, pictured circa 2006.

Recently, a family member became quite fond of an article in a national paper titled ‘101 ways to feel healthier and happier’.

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It got me thinking, what makes me happier and healthier?

Well, to get my family member off another paper’s website and back on to the most important and locally written one, The News, I thought I’d write my own list.

Pat a cat.
Buy a new book despite not having read the books you last bought but you promise you’ll read them next.
Do a slow-motion fight with a loved one.
Write a post-it note to your favourite co-worker.
Colour in, but don’t worry about realism, just do what makes you happy.
Rot in bed for a little, as a treat.
Do something silly, just because you can.
Put on a British accent and don’t relent, just to see how long your partner will put up with it.
Buy another houseplant to replace the one you killed recently.
Watch a music video you loved as a kid to see if it is still good (it isn’t).
Lie on the concrete and feel the cold hard floor straighten out each of your vertebrae.
Remember the good times, when your knees didn’t hurt.
Try a new food combination, such as apple and peanut butter.
Practise chugging, but with a pint of water.
Make fairy bread because you’re an adult and no-one can tell you what to do.
Do basic neck stretches and hear your bones crack like shattering glass.
Clean your glasses, especially that smudge you notice but are too lazy to actually do anything about.
Google a random country’s folklore.
Listen to the Shepp Happens podcast (wink).
Look at pictures of your childhood pet and remember how good they were.
Read all of my other opinion columns because I only write bangers.
Cry for a little bit because we all deserve to feel something every once and a while.
Book your next week of leave if you don’t have any coming up and feel the corporate dread leave your body.
Look up pictures of stoats. They’re just so darn cute.
Think about how much you hate news articles that tell you what to do. Okay, it’s getting a bit meta now, I’ll stop.