Lists- Happiness

I have been thinking for a while about the following question: Based on my life experience so far what are those things which are essential for me?

One day when I was not thinking about this question any more the answer popped up in my mind.

In order to be happy I need:

1, a purpose to work for

2, a peaceful environment

3, beautiful things around me (beautiful does not necessarily means expensive)

I know this list varies from person to person.

Writing lists is good sometimes, because thoughts and reality meet on the paper and sometimes you see that you really need to specify certain things before you can make further thoughts about them.

When I saw "peaceful environment" on my first list for example I tried to find out what it means regarding my physical surrounding and I was surprised. I already forgot about half of the places where I have been living at so far, and the list was much longer than I expected it to be.

Then to celebrate this discovery I quickly went to a tattoo studio and got the script "gypsy" tattooed on my right arm (not).

An other day I found a poster summarizing the essence of minimalist living ("Less, but better") , and when I read the caption written by someone under the picture which was "Minimalism. These three simple words make me want to run through my home, grabbing up armfuls of 'stuff' to donate or trash." I got really happy, because I realized that this is exactly what I have been doing lately and I live sometimes much more according to my principles as I am aware of it. 

It was really nice to see that certain new values became already part of my subconscious and I don`t have to repeat them to myself all the time any more, because they are a part the way I act and think. I know this is how it goes in case of everyone else, but it is still nice to write down these things, because self-reflection would not be worth of anything if you could not stop once in a while and be happy also for the positive changes, and not just being utterly self-critical.

Through my "places I lived at" list I discovered also something else which is hard to summarize. I always thought that I am a person who longs for comfort. But when I saw how many places I have lived at, and realized that I do not remember even half of those movings I realized that may be I am much more flexible than I consider myself to be. This could kill my fear of changes, because I actually do manage in situations what I am so much afraid of beforehand and similar situations did not cause any long term trauma in me.

I don`t want to be too esoteric here, because I am not sure either what is exactly what all these lists made me aware of. It was a feeling about that that may be all our thoughts and actions form the core of our personality to a much bigger extent what we are aware of. And that in the long run the life we live is sort of the life we chose for ourselves through every little decision we make.