Have you ever caught yourself thinking that you'll be happy once you reach a specific goal?

I see this the most in my office when patients have a goal to lose a certain number of pounds.

The danger with this type of thinking is that our happiness becomes outcome dependent.

What if that outcome doesn't happen? Does that mean we shouldn't be happy?

What I've learned (and am still learning) is that true happiness comes from being grateful in the here and now. And that once you start paying attention there are plenty of simple things that can make us happy.

Here are 5 things that make me ridiculously happy, no outcome required:

• the perfect dipping cookie
• laying in a pile of laundry just out of the dryer
• the smell of grass mixed with dirt in the fall
• walking to work
• butterflies

Now I would love to hear from you! What is one simple thing that makes you ridiculously happy? Leave a comment below and I'll be back next week with another edition of Doctor as Teacher Tuesday!