Money Can’t Buy Happiness.

Some things in life are fabulously wonderful, a trip to Cancun, sailing on a yacht, or owning a Lamborghini. Unfortunately, as a college student, most of these things are unrealistic for us. Instead, we must take pleasure in the simple things in life such as:

1. Running into people you know in places you never expect to see them: This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to New York City to visit a few friends. Though I planned to see a lot of people who were in the city for the summer, I also ran into two friends from school completely out of the blue—one on a rooftop terrace and one in line to take a bus back to DC. These by-chance happenings always make me smile and think just how small our world really is.

2. Finding money in odd places you didn’t know it was hiding: Putting on a pair of jeans and finding ten bucks in the pocket, or opening up a bag to find some singles, is one of the best feelings in life. It’s basically like free money! When I was little I used to purposely hide money in these places, just so I could have the joy of finding it at a later point in time (I was a slightly odd child and I am sure I lost more money this way than anything else).

3. When two things come out of the vending machine instead of one: When you’re really craving a snack to get you through your day and you head to the vending machines for a pick me up and realize if you get a bag of chips, you’ll actually get two for the price of one (this does mean however that someone else got the short end of the stick, but you never think about this).

4. When you reach your destination just as your favorite song ends on the radio: No waiting around for you, its that satisfaction of perfect timing that can’t really be explained in words.

5. When you don’t know an answer on a test but the answer is in another question: This was always always the best in school, I don’t know if teachers would do it to see if you were paying attention, but free points on an exam, always fabulous!

6. Finding a pull through parking spot: When you go around a corner and find a parking spot, this is always great. However, A PULL THROUGH SPOT is the jackpot of parking. Its so wonderful that you know you wont have to put in the extra effort of backing up!

7. Making a yellow light: Maybe you’ll make it, maybe you won’t. AHH, the decision, go for it when its yellow and it doesn’t turn red. Maybe you do the kiss the ceiling trick, either way the success of making the yellow light is something that totally makes the moment.

8. Realizing you have more time to sleep: That groggy time when you wake up before your alarm and still have twenty minutes to sleep. That extra time is a small gift and seems to make a world of difference on your functioning for the day.

9. Not dropping a sock when taking your clothes out of the dryer: Your hands are full of clean fluffy clothes, and you’re taking them to your room. One of the most accomplished feelings is not dropping anything on the floor on your way, especially socks. Point one for you!

10. Reminiscing about old times: Hanging out with friends is always fabulous, but reminiscing about past times (like mud sliding in the Sunken Garden, trips to Jamestown Beach to picnic, and evenings out on the town) is one of my biggest simple pleasures in life. Good friends and good stories, you can’t get much better then that!