Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash

Forty things I love and appreciate

Thanks to Alec Zaffiro and Keith Horton for nominating me to complete this list.

1. I love coffee in the morning, regardless of the weather outside.
2. I appreciate a sarcastic sense of humor.
3. I love October in the upper Midwest (United States).
4. I appreciate those who helped me during hard times, even if they don’t realize they did.
5. I appreciate those who did not help me during hard times. It exposed their true character and motivated me to rise above it.
6. I love a good mushroom Swiss cheeseburger, a side order of onion rings, and a cold beer.
7. I love finding out that something is possible, when others say that it isn’t.
8. I love running into former students in public and finding out how well they turned out.
9. I appreciate having the forethought to take care of my health in my 20’s. So many people in my age group (or younger) did not hold up well and now complain about their ailments.
10. I love liver and onions (yes, you read that right).
11. I love running when the weather is in the 50’s and 60’s (Fahrenheit). It’s the perfect temperature to keep the body cool and still wear short sleeves and shorts.
12. I love silence. No TV, music, or voices — just the sound of nothing.
13. I love spending time with someone who really gets me — no pretension, no fake interests, no phony personas — where we can just be ourselves, warts and all.
14. I love long, hot showers on cold mornings.
15. I love a good hike in scenic locations.
16. I love people-watching while walking through the main hub of a major city.
17. I appreciate the little things that many take for granted, especially when seeing news reports of others in the world who have so much less or have lost so much more than me.
18. I appreciate when someone tells me of a small thing I said or did for them that made a positive impact on them.
19. I love the smell of grandma’s cooking, even though she passed away years ago.
20. I appreciate those who know how to give constructive feedback, as opposed to criticism. It is a valuable skill that most people lack.
21. I love hearing stories of how people did things years ago before modern inventions made us take those things for granted.
22. I love a good Italian dinner, even though my ancestry is German.
23. I love and appreciate people who keep trying, even after failing more than once.
24. I love the purity and simplicity of a dog’s affection.
25. I love the movie To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a true classic film in every sense, with the most beautiful musical score ever composed.
26. I appreciate people who don’t take themselves so seriously.
27. I appreciate the eyes of a young person who is eager to learn.
28. I appreciate the face of a young person who was not eager to learn, but something I taught them opened their eyes.
29. I appreciate a good cry occasionally and regret not allowing myself to do it when I was a younger adult.
30. I love lounging on a beach with the warm sun on my skin and a cool umbrella drink by my side.
31. I love the hearty laugh of someone who really enjoys life.
32. I love the sound of the flight attendant announcing we have arrived at the terminal gate at my final destination.
33. I love the feeling of getting into my own bed with fresh clean sheets.
34. I love the memory of holding my newborn son for the first time.
35. I love getting all green lights while driving through a metropolitan area.
36. I love when the huge underdog wins a sporting event.
37. I appreciate it when my car starts on an extremely cold winter morning.
38. I love seeing the sunset on a summer evening after a day of hard work outside. It makes the feeling of accomplishment much more meaningful.
39. I appreciate all that God has given me and the future opportunities He will present.
40. I appreciate all the support from my fellow Medium writers. It really means a lot.

To keep the momentum going and pay it forward, I nominate Michael Bonnell and Simon Ternyik to complete their lists — two people whose recent stories have impacted me in a positive way.