Your greatest / happiest experiences in life

[whywork]

What are your top few happiest / greatest experiences in life. Experiences that you feel are worth living.

Few examples

- Great food you ate
- Beautiful place you visited
- Best physical encounter you had with someone
- A great achievement while in school
- An inspirational spiritual / religious experience
- Events in life; child birth, marriage etc
- A career related high; a promo you waited for long
- A girl / boy you loved accepting your proposal or admitting they are falling for you
- Enlightenment experience or other meditation related experiences
- Moments after tremendous hard work; a long run, a long project at work or life
- A big pleasant surprise
- Meeting someone; a celebrity, your crush, your idol etc
- A travel experience; scuba diving, spa experience, a tour etc

[MagneticNorth]

What a great question. Thinking about it, I have a lot, which makes me feel really lucky.

I'll share one - it was in the first few months of dating my now-husband. I was walking home one morning from his shared student-house to my apartment, and I realized that all the colors on the trees and the buildings and the sky looked brighter than I'd ever seen them before. I wondered if it was the clarity of the air, or something with my eyes, and then I realized - I was in love, like I'd never been before. And I had thought it was a cliche or a figure of speech, but for me, the colors in the world really do look brighter when I'm in love.

[cool7hand]

My relationship with my wife.

Completing the Hoffman Process and finding the real me: https://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/.

[Eowyn_MI]

Great food you ate
 - Whenever I look at the dinner table and realize that most of the food is homegrown.  There's been whole meals in the summertime when everything was homegrown except for the meat, cooking oil and the salt.  This is a feeling that I work towards repeating every year!

Beautiful place you visited
 - Asheville, NC.  Anywhere in the vicinity of the Smoky Mountains is gorgeous, especially in the springtime.

Best physical encounter you had with someone
 - Hugs, all of the hugs.  Holding my brand new niece and nephew for the first time was pretty special too!

Moments after tremendous hard work; a long run, a long project at work or life
 - Completing a sprint triathlon with friends and then going out for pizza afterwards.

Bonus category: personal achievement that I never thought would happen
 - Finally getting a strict pull-up after working on it for about a year.  (long skinny arms + being a girl made pull-ups feel impossible at the start)

[asauer]

This is a great question.  I'll skip the obvious ones about my husband and kids.

1. Completing grad school- I'm the only woman to graduate college and only person in my family to complete grad school.  Can't tell the level of emotion I had about that moment

2. Living in Mexico for 1.5 yrs.  One of the best learning and growth experiences of my life

3. Completing an ultra marathon (37 miles)- it's one of the only times I've really pushed myself to the absolute limit

4. Growing my own food (veg/fruit/ beans)- I've never felt so powerful, honestly

5. Teaching adults in various contexts- the feeling of seeing a lightbulb come on and someone being excited about a new concept is absolutely indescribable.

6.  Writing novels- being creative and more importantly being vulnerable enough to put my work out there for others to either enjoy or hate was a big moment for me

7.  This last one is weird- in Middle School I won the school record for # of pull ups.  I had to go head to head against the winning boy in the school who was a year older.  The final contest happened in front of the whole school.  Literally every boy jeered and boo'ed the entire time.  Then I won by 2 pull ups.  It was both an empowering moment and very educational.  I've powered through some form of that scenario many times in my life and I always think back to that day.

[OtherJen]

I love this. Here are mine (in no particular order, just as I figure out how to word them):

1. Defending my dissertation in front of family and friends, and being addressed as “Doctor” for the first time. Three of my grandparents were immigrants, and none finished high school. My parents barely finished high school. I’m the first doctor on either side of the family.

2. Meeting my niece for the first time, about an hour after she was born. Truly uncomplicated joy.

3. When I worked the election in November and spotted a young woman with a copy of the local voter guide that I had helped to create. Members of our organization regularly tell me how helpful they find the guides, but I was so proud and happy to see a complete stranger using one to help her as she voted.

4. Spending several hours clambering around the tide pools at Point Loma (San Diego), completely engrossed in all the little critters.

5. Realizing shortly after we started dating that I always wanted my now-husband to be in my life (good lord, that was almost 20 years ago).

6. Finally achieving a successful pie crust. I hadn’t ever managed it, even before my celiac diagnosis 11 years ago, but finally achieved one in fall 2019 with gluten-free flour. Proudest damned baking moment of my life.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Few examples

- Great food you ate - I have been to some truly fabulous restaurants, but I'll go with a meal I had (nachos, margaritas, & cupcakes) after completing a ridiculously hard trail half marathon in 90+ weather.
- Beautiful place you visited - I'm all about the ocean, so Hawaii, the Oregon coast.
- A great achievement while in school - I earned a bunch of scholarships in high school. Back in the day, there was a school assembly, and they called off which scholarships you'd won. Most were a total surprise.
- Events in life; child birth, marriage etc - The birth of my first child was amazing & intense. I had some complications immediately after birth that were terrifying. So, when I had my (surprise) second child 13 months later, I was blown away by the relative easiness of his birth
- A career related high; a promo you waited for long - I recently achieved a big life milestone promo
- A girl / boy you loved accepting your proposal or admitting they are falling for you - my husband & I discussing our plans to marry, at the top of Haleakala, in Hawaii
- Moments after tremendous hard work; a long run, a long project at work or life - first half marathon, completing a team relay in insane weather

[Watchmaker]

This feels like a great exercise in gratitude. In no particular order:

-A lunch at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London. Three courses, two of which were the two best things I've ever eaten (Meat Fruit and the Tipsy Cake).

-Passing my qualification exams for my PhD. I was incredibly nervous (while waiting for my exam I walked from Morningside Heights all the way down to Tribeca and back), but afterwards I was just incredibly proud of myself.

-Quitting my PhD. I was trying to work full time and do the PhD-- I was burned out, having panic attacks, and my quality of life was awful. Quitting was probably the hardest thing I've done in my life because  it felt like failure. The minute I'd done it though I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and I knew I'd made the right choice.

-Anytime I see my SO perform in front of people.

-A dinner we made with my closest friends on the Lake Superior beach. We had rented a cabin and this was our last night before going home. We set a table up right on the shore (with candles, tablecloth, real silverware, etc) and just had the best time.

-Walking through the Muir Woods.

-Salmon salad and rosé at Cafe Brigitta in Helsinki.

-Watching the fireworks at the end of a Rolling Stones concert at the Circo Massimo from our AirBnB penthouse.

-Running to catch the train back to our AirBnb in Tokyo after a very long night of drinking with our new friends.

-Seeing Cécile McLorin Salvant premiere her song cycle Ogresse.

-Visiting the British Library by myself.

-Happening upon the Neanderthal Museum while killing time in Germany.

-Flying to England for my 21st birthday to watch a Chelsea game (soccer), and then getting bumped up to first class on the flight home.

-When SO called me four months later to say she'd reconsidered her answer to when I had asked her out.

-Taking my dog on road trips to the top of Pike's Peak (he loved it) and to the Atlantic Ocean (wasn't impressed).

-When I found out my first piece of fiction was being published.

[Cranky]

Having my kids, and then my grandson.

My relationship with dh, which is not a moment but the backbone of my life.

Many moments from teaching. Example : we went on a field trip to Harpers Ferry and we went into the little building that John Brown had defended, the other teacher had arranged for the kids to start singing John Brown’s Body.

[Metalcat]

Getting people out of pain and suffering.
It's pretty much the best high there is.

[zinnie]

There's so many, but hiking the national parks out west by myself always comes out on top.

[Watchmaker]

Here's a few more I thought of. By the way, Malcat's post really highlights how self-centered my moments are. Something to think about.

-Setting a world record for solar cell efficiency (as part of a large team). The record only stood for a few months and the technology is no longer used, but it felt good to have played a part in helping drive photovoltaics costs down.

-Hosting a hybrid dinner party/theater event as part of a worldwide, award-wining theater project. I can't say very much because this one is way too easy to google and would give my identity away. But I've never worked so hard on something in my life, had it come so close to having it fall apart, and just barely succeeded. It was a rush. And one guest has repeatedly told me it was the best night of their life. 

-Meeting Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett (Tom and Crow from Mystery Science Theater).

-Catching my first trout.

-Spending two weeks as a teenager doing nothing but visiting English castles with my grandparents.

-SO's 30th birthday, for which I arranged a surprise meetup with her brother and best friend in NYC.

-Hiking the Ice Lakes Trail in the San Juan mountains.

[DeskJockey2028]

Excellent post. Here are a few of mine, in no particular order (except #1).

1) Adopting both my kids, 2.5 years apart. There's been nothing else in my life to compare with this - each time was a unique amazing, hard, rewarding experience. Add to this watching them grow from children to interesting, opinionated young adults and being able to see the world through that set of eyes again.

2) Walking through various, ancient parts of Greece, including eating a picnic lunch on the shores of the Aegean and spotting old pottery sherds washing up onto the beach.

3) Having several board game designs picked up by different publishers and seeing my games in stores.

4) Being only the 2nd person in my family to graduate from college (the first being my Grandfather) and then getting my Masters. It took him 10 years longer but my brother also has his Masters, which was great to see.

5) Not just marrying my wife, but celebrating several decades together with her.

6) That moment you realized you've gone from growing up in near poverty to being in a position to retire early and never, ever have to put your kids through what you went through growing up.

[John Galt incarnate!]

Three distinguishing landmarks mark the path  of my   life.

One was FIREing, another earning my JD degree.

The third, living a life of love for  beloved SO  is and will ever be the sublime acme of my existence.

When beloved SO visits  I recite Marlowe's poem  as arm in arm, we walk  through the woods on my property.




"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"



Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the Rocks,
Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow Rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing Madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of Roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and Ivy buds,
With Coral clasps and Amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.

The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.

[NV Teacher]

Being in the mountains with my family as a kid after finishing all the farm chores for the day.  All ten of us bouncing around in the back of my dad’s old blue pickup truck.  Stopping at the reservoir to shoot at sticks floating on the water as the watermelon cooled in the spring that ran down to the reservoir.  Eating our picnic lunch while sitting on logs in the shade of the pine trees watching the leaves on the quakies dance and shimmer in the slight breeze.  Playing hide and seek in the skunk cabbage and gathering large bouquets of wild flowers that wilted before we could get them home.

[use2betrix]

1. Marrying my wife. Not so much the event (basic wedding), but just the whole process of dating for many years and marrying my best friend.

2. Making my parents proud. I was a very difficult child growing up (lots of trouble) and I’ve grown into an incredibly successful adult.

3. My wife is pregnant with our first child after 2.5 years of trying. We are very excited. I would expect meeting the future baby trix may be one of the best experiences of my life.

4. My career in general. I went to 4 different colleges and a tech school and only finished with an associates degree and tech school certification. I’m 32 and this will be my 3rd or 4th year making $300k+. I just went through a very extensive interview process from a cold call on LinkedIn and beat out many candidates with technical master’s degrees and PHD’s, plus twice my age to land an upper level $350k management position.

5. Spending two months with my wife backpacking through Asia. 5 countries and no real plans (we bought 1 way tickets). Scuba diving in Phi Phi (first time) was the 1st or 2nd most “majestic” moments of my life.

6. Riding a motorcycle 3.5 weeks and 3000 miles through Baja with my wife on the back. We camped on the beach every other night. We went whale watching in Guerrero Negro which was tied with the scuba diving for the most “majestic” of my life’s moments.

7. My wife and I (and baby German Shepherd) did a 2 month, 6000 mile road trip across the northern US, Canada, and down the Rockies/Continental Divide. Slept in a tent every night but 3 when we visited a friend for his brother’s wedding. During this trip I remember during the middle of a long drive in Canada we stopped at a wal mart to pop the tent of the night (it was a roof top tent on a trailer). We went inside and got a big carton of ice cream and I’ll never forget sitting on the vehicles bumper, eating ice cream, looking at the stars. That was a moment I’ll never forget as one of the most peaceful, happiest moments of my life.

8. This year we have a very good chance at hitting $1,000,000 in savings and investments. It’ll depend on the market and my job, but I expect that to be up there in terms of feelings of accomplishment.

[chouchouu]

When my twins were born, finally meeting them after an awful pregnancy and seeing their little faces. They looked like little gremlins but I was so happy to have them in my arms healthy and safe. I really enjoy having kids and mine are pretty awesome, we love going on adventures and exploring together. I get a bit of a kick out of seeing them happy or in wonderment. It can be something small like having seedlings appear in the garden or taking them on safari to see their favourite animal, a cheetah, and see how absolutely ecstatic they are.

Walking the Sydney Harbour foreshore walk. I started doing this when I was a teenager. It's beautiful and serene, especially having lived overseas for a while I really appreciate how lucky I am to live in such a gorgeous city. I also loved picnicking in Gordon's Bay with my siblings and dogs when I was a teen.

Spending time with my ex-husband's family. I take the kids to visit grandma every year or vice versa. I'm not close with my parents so I'm really glad to have my mother in law in my life. She is the perfect grandmother, adores my kids and we are very close even though she lives in Europe. Having that support and unconditional love is wonderful. Just spending time together, watching the kids play in the garden or cooking together. I can't wait until we can travel again and catch up.

Weddings- I love seeing people so happy, hearing the funny stories about them and the celebration bringing all the family  and friends together.

Pulling off a successful dinner party. Particularly when I've made something really difficult. Having fun chatting and eating good food at home with your mates is the best. For some reason it's more fun at home, maybe because the food is more adventurous or there's no time limit.

[SimpleCycle]

Not even a contest, the moment I became a mom.  Watching DW bring DD into the world through an immense feat of womanhood, and the moment that I got to hold her and feel the connection to my child was simply amazing.  It would take a while for my fears about our lack of biological connection to fully melt away, but that moment was the beginning.

DS's birth is a close second, with me doing the birthing this time, although it was punctuated with some scary moments and complications.  The moment they put him on the scale and I saw he weighed 3500 grams all I could do was laugh, because they'd predicted a HUGE baby and he was average and perfect.

I once went to a Sonoran style hot dog vendor after more than a few beers in Hermosillo Mexico, and discovered the vendor put not one but TWO bacon wrapped hot dogs in each bun.  It was a peak life experience.

Finishing El Tour de Tucson in 7 hours and 12 seconds.  My goal was just to finish the 109 miles, and I achieved a much faster time than I was expecting, thanks in large part to training rides with friends.

I have more but I have to think about it.

[SpareChange]

I worked my way through college as a low level supervisor at a big box retail store. A few months before I quit, a quite petite, quite pregnant young woman was hired on as a cashier. I was a little skeptical, given the physical demands of the job. She was also a relatively recent immigrant from Cambodia, and spoke very broken English (As a humorous aside, she once called 911 on the postman because she thought he was a burglar :). She wasn't particularly sophisticated, and her stories generally weren't all that interesting to an impatient young man. But I listened. I gave her lift help when heavy items came though, subbed in on her frequent pee breaks, and talked with her on lunch when she'd be sitting alone in a room full of people.

Anyhow, when I quit several people asked for my contact info, she being one of them. A month or two later I received a phone call from her. Her and her husband had decided to name their new son after me. Pretty cool day.

[RunningintoFI]

I love this question and how much it made me reflect on how great life has been.

Number one has to be realizing how much I love running and the confidence boost it gave me when I was a freshman in high school cross country.  A lifelong love that has never let me down.

Other notables:

• Taking a month off of work and traveling across all of NZ - skydiving over Abel Tasman National Park for Christmas, bungy jumping, swimming with dolphins and tent sleeping along the ocean every night with strangers turned friends from all over the world.  Ruined me for the working world forever after though.
• Meeting my great group of friends through ultimate frisbee.  We talk constantly and it's been the most positive group of people I have ever met.
• Volunteering at a hospice facility and learning what really matters in life.

So many more great memories.  Life really can be a blessing and this was a great reminder of that.   

[GuitarStv]

I lived with my girlfriend (later wife), and two best friends for several years after university in a series of rented houses (which always ended up being super cheap when split four ways).  It was a pretty awesome time of my life . . . there was always someone to talk to and something fun to do at home.  We all played sports together, went to movies, had meals together (splitting cooking/cleaning chores), hosted parties, etc.  No real duties or obligations and huge amounts of free time every day.  There have been other higher moments, but that was probably the most consistently happy period of my life.

Living with people can be a nightmare, but if you get the right group it is amazing.

[Adventine]

I worked my way through college as a low level supervisor at a big box retail store. A few months before I quit, a quite petite, quite pregnant young woman was hired on as a cashier. I was a little skeptical, given the physical demands of the job. She was also a relatively recent immigrant from Cambodia, and spoke very broken English (As a humorous aside, she once called 911 on the postman because she thought he was a burglar :). She wasn't particularly sophisticated, and her stories generally weren't all that interesting to an impatient young man. But I listened. I gave her lift help when heavy items came though, subbed in on her frequent pee breaks, and talked with her on lunch when she'd be sitting alone in a room full of people.

Anyhow, when I quit several people asked for my contact info, she being one of them. A month or two later I received a phone call from her. Her and her husband had decided to name their new son after me. Pretty cool day.

What a great story, and what a heart of gold you have :)

[ctuser1]

Both kids.

Very different reactions, however!

Older one grabbed me hard when I took her when she was, maybe, 15 minutes old. Younger one was a couple of hours old when I got her (I was minding the toddler). She screamed her head off.

[vand]

Echoing others, birth of our first (and so far only) child.. I don't see how any parent could say anything differently tbh

A very distant 2nd would be the feeling of crossing the finish line after a 24hr/100mile ultramarathon

[Accrual]

I worked my way through college as a low level supervisor at a big box retail store. A few months before I quit, a quite petite, quite pregnant young woman was hired on as a cashier. I was a little skeptical, given the physical demands of the job. She was also a relatively recent immigrant from Cambodia, and spoke very broken English (As a humorous aside, she once called 911 on the postman because she thought he was a burglar :). She wasn't particularly sophisticated, and her stories generally weren't all that interesting to an impatient young man. But I listened. I gave her lift help when heavy items came though, subbed in on her frequent pee breaks, and talked with her on lunch when she'd be sitting alone in a room full of people.

Anyhow, when I quit several people asked for my contact info, she being one of them. A month or two later I received a phone call from her. Her and her husband had decided to name their new son after me. Pretty cool day.

This is awesome :)

[YK-Phil]

Meeting my current life partner. She brings peace, wellness, and balance to my tormented and messy soul and never fails to show me the positive side of everything and everyone. She taught me about Totoro, and Shinto and mindfulness without even saying a single gobbledygook word that many new age "teachers" usually love throwing around.

[Anon-E-Mouze]

1. My happiest moments have simply involved being with animals. I remember my first open water scuba dive in New Zealand, when sea lions joined my instructor and me to play in the water (they definitely were playing with us) as we waited for the boat to pick us up, and blissful dives in the Indian Ocean off Oman, watching eels and other creatures. We adopted an 18 year-old cat in 2017, who was already had early-stage kidney disease, and every minute I spent with her until her death last spring (especially snuggling with her in my arms every night in bed) was a gift. I've been simultaneously thrilled and terrified as I fed baby birds (every 15 minutes!) during my volunteer shifts at a wild bird hospital and then, a few months later, I got to participate in their release into the wild. Above all else, I love spending time at Catskill Animal Sanctuary (north of New York City), where I spend hours walking the property, watching its non-human residents, and engaging with them (if they want to engage with me).

2. About eight years ago, I combined my love for animals with a burgeoning interest in photography and started taking a lot of classes. I've been pursuing fine art photography of rescued animals, as a hobby and as a volunteer activity, ever since. And I've been surprised and thrilled to have some major successes in terms of the recognition of my work along the way. Among other things, a photo series I created won the People's Choice Award for the 2018 National Edition of "The Fence", a touring nine-city outdoor exhibition that is juried by about 50 leaders in media, photography and art. (The best part of participating in that exhibition and winning the award was being able to share the message of compassion for animals underlying the work with millions of people who walked by one of the exhibitions over the 18 months that it toured.) I did the photography for a children's book about rescued goats and in 2020, a German fine art book publisher published my photobook Nest: Rescued Chickens at Home. I get a lot of pleasure out of helping rescuers by donating my time and images to help them with their fundraising. And it also makes me very happy to hear from people who have seen my photographs and been influenced to re-consider their relationship to farmed animals - some of them have told me that my photographs influenced them to go vegetarian or vegan :)

https://www.janetholmesphoto.com/rescuedchickens

[cupcakery]

The best thing I ever did was marry my husband.  A lot of the good things in my life stem from that decision.  Our kids are amazing and it makes me so happy that we are all close with each other and enjoy being together.

I really enjoy cooking and people seem to love my food.  I've had people tell me that something I made was the best thing they've ever eaten in their life or that I should open a restaurant/write a cookbook/start a blog, etc.  It feels really good to be good at something I love and to be appreciated.

I've had some amazing experiences while hiking and being in nature. 

My nieces and nephews are always so excited to see me.  They often have little gifts that they've saved for me, like a cool rock or a lego creation.  I feel extremely happy and lucky when I spend time with them, but they are exhausting, so I'm also happy when I go home.  ;-)

[friedmmj]

I worked my way through college as a low level supervisor at a big box retail store. A few months before I quit, a quite petite, quite pregnant young woman was hired on as a cashier. I was a little skeptical, given the physical demands of the job. She was also a relatively recent immigrant from Cambodia, and spoke very broken English (As a humorous aside, she once called 911 on the postman because she thought he was a burglar :). She wasn't particularly sophisticated, and her stories generally weren't all that interesting to an impatient young man. But I listened. I gave her lift help when heavy items came though, subbed in on her frequent pee breaks, and talked with her on lunch when she'd be sitting alone in a room full of people.

Anyhow, when I quit several people asked for my contact info, she being one of them. A month or two later I received a phone call from her. Her and her husband had decided to name their new son after me. Pretty cool day.

This is awesome :)

I was sure this story was going to end with you marrying her LOL.

[Just Joe]

In no particular order (an impossible task):

Meeting and later marrying my wife. Amazing woman. So beautiful, patient, and smart. Blissful period of my earlier life. Getting know each other. Simple adventures together. Together more than two decades now. We need to have more adventures together this year and it is my intention to see that through.

The birth of our kids. Last night was playing video games with the eldest before bed. The night before was listening to music with the youngest. Everyday together isn't enough.

Extended family. Not all my family. Some of my family are tough to spend time with. It's complicated. Had grandparents as a child that were the right people at the right time. Very much a contrast to my parents whom I didn't get along well with at times. My parents (and sibling) might have been better off as DINKs. Wound too tight to be parents IMHO.   

Living in Europe for several years. I had long wanted to see Europe as far back as middle school. I liked travel picture books as a child. I have always been an explorer. I want to see everything, see where every road goes and how roads connect. Hope to take the family someday soon post-COVID. We can afford to.

All the travel I did in the Navy. Didn't always like every Navy day b/c some days were tough. So glad that I had that experience. Would absolutely make that same choice to enlist.

That moment of bliss between leaving my parents' home and being an established adult with responsibilities. Overlaps with my time in Europe, the Navy, university and meeting my wife.

Going for a bike ride, even alone. Something about ~15 mph and the near silence of the machine in a place not dominated by cars that is wonderful.

Time alone to recharge. Can overlap with chores and music.

Learning. I love to learn even now in the second half of my life. Love to teach too.

Animals that have been part of our lives. Dogs more than cats but both. looking into the eyes of our dogs and knowing there is a bond and love between us.   

 

[ditheca]

Yesterday, my son waxed eloquent about how incredibly satisfying it was to throw a snowball at someone and hit them exactly where he was aiming.

I'm not sure it was the happiest day of his life, but I dunno... top 5 maybe?

[Captain Cactus]

Yesterday, my son waxed eloquent about how incredibly satisfying it was to throw a snowball at someone and hit them exactly where he was aiming.

I'm not sure it was the happiest day of his life, but I dunno... top 5 maybe?

When I was maybe 9 or 10 years old we had a pack of kids in the neighborhood, like 4-5 or us.  2 of the kids were kinda jerks because their parents had good jobs and we were poor.  But we played together because that's all we had.  So anyway, we had a snowball fight one day, the 2 jerks charged us, threw their snowballs, and then ran back the other direction to their base.  As they were running back I launched a hail-mary snowball, which went up...came down...right on the main jerk's head as he was running.  It was perfect timing...hit a moving target... nothing like that has ever happened, nor will it ever happen again.

:)

[JustK]

I was a summer camp counselor during my college years. Of course, it was a terrible financial decision (especially since I was paying for college with loans), but definitely one of the happiest times of my life. Living in a damp and dirty little cabin in the woods all summer, taking city kids hiking for the first time, watching meteor showers from the roof of the dining hall, sneaking out to go skinny dipping after the campers fell asleep, and all the silly little "this one time at (not) band camp" stories I still tell, almost 30 years later. I cherish that time in my life.

[TheFrenchCat]

I was a summer camp counselor during my college years. Of course, it was a terrible financial decision (especially since I was paying for college with loans), but definitely one of the happiest times of my life. Living in a damp and dirty little cabin in the woods all summer, taking city kids hiking for the first time, watching meteor showers from the roof of the dining hall, sneaking out to go skinny dipping after the campers fell asleep, and all the silly little "this one time at (not) band camp" stories I still tell, almost 30 years later. I cherish that time in my life.

I was also a camp counselor during high school and it was the best.  It was so empowering to be taking care of others, helping them deal with whatever issues came up, swimming in the lake, the friendships with the other counselors. 

For my best experiences I'd also add getting married, the birth of my daughter, having a depression treatment finally work and meeting Eddie Vedder (he kissed my hand!).

[fishnfool]

So many, but here's a few of mine....

1.  The birth of my daughter

2.  Watching my daughter graduate with her Masters in Nursing

3.  Getting my drivers license at 16 and the freedom it gave me

4.  Being towed on my kayak 1/4 mile by a 55lb white seabass on the Monterey bay

5.  Retiring with good health, a loving wife, family and secure finances

[E.T.]

My relationship with my spouse is totally number one for me on greatest / happiest experience of my life. Sometimes it takes a lot of work and sometimes we breeze along super easily but my relationship is the best and most fun part of my life.

Other than that, probably a great accumulation of lots of small moments make me happiest.

For example, I feel really happy every time it's the first snow of the year and I can run outside to let the snowflakes hit my face. I don't even like winter that much, no idea why I get such a kick out of the first snowfall.

I feel really happy when it's raining out and I can curl up with a good book indoors.

I love sitting around a bonfire and making smores.

I have travel experiences that were some of the happiest moments in my life, but the memories I have from those are mostly bright little moments, like observing some really beautiful moss on an old stone wall in Galway or cracking up with my spouse as we realized that we knew LA landmarks by sight because we played way too much GTA.

I think I am a simple person because the big milestones never hit me the same way as the little joys.

[tygertygertyger]

*Climbing into bed at night makes me wildly happy. I've never known why and don't need to, but I feel ecstatic for a couple minutes right after hopping in. (I used to also feel that way about taking showers, but haven't experienced that in several years...)
*Reading a good book and zoning out the rest of the world. One of the best feelings in the world.
*A friend and I went to Argentina, and we were in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and we walked down through the deep night to lay on rocks next to the ocean and look at the billions of stars. Such a lovely night.
*Similarly, the entire time we were on a boat near Antarctica. Walking around the ship at 2 am (practically bright day in the sky), or sitting on the shore watching penguins live their lives, stealing rocks from each other or wandering down shore to take a dip and get a snack.
*My third date with SO. We met up for a "quick drink" right before he had to head back to his PhD program (a few hour drive), and like all our early dates, it lasted for hours. I kissed him in the lobby as we were leaving, and some old ladies walked in and tittered, so we stepped outside and kissed a bunch more next to his car. It was the tipping point between early excitement and 'yes this is going to happen'.

[dignam]

-Poker nights with my friends in high school and college.  God I miss those.
-Watching a friend ride a plastic sled down the escalator inside a Dick's Sporting Goods (yeah, young and dumb).  It was LOUD.  I don't think I've ever laughed harder than that
-Getting my driver's license
-Getting my pilot's license
-Training and watching my dog complete an (easy) agility course
-Looking at the stars on the dock at my family's cabin in the northwoods of WI on a clear, still night; absolutely stunning
-Seeing my first funnel cloud; taking pictures of first funnel cloud
-Thunderstorms also make me happy

[Caoineag]

The first sip of coffee each morning. It's a form of meditation that starts the day right. Doesn't even have to be coffee, can be tea even so it's definitely the ritual I love.

Every time I see an unusual rainbow. I have seen a vertical rainbow in the mountains, a triple rainbow on my birthday, etc.

Making my first homemade spaghetti sauce while drinking wine with hubby and watching the sunset reflected on the red rock mountain not 1/2 a mile from our campsite.

Anytime I go walking under a forest canopy. We joke that I must be a woodland creature as woods are my happy place.

[Metalcat]

The first sip of coffee each morning. It's a form of meditation that starts the day right. Doesn't even have to be coffee, can be tea even so it's definitely the ritual I love.

Every time I see an unusual rainbow. I have seen a vertical rainbow in the mountains, a triple rainbow on my birthday, etc.

Making my first homemade spaghetti sauce while drinking wine with hubby and watching the sunset reflected on the red rock mountain not 1/2 a mile from our campsite.

Anytime I go walking under a forest canopy. We joke that I must be a woodland creature as woods are my happy place.

I highly recommend VeloVolant if you ever get a chance, it's recumbent cycling through the canopy of trees with a view of the Appalachian mountains.

[Caoineag]

...

Anytime I go walking under a forest canopy. We joke that I must be a woodland creature as woods are my happy place.

I highly recommend VeloVolant if you ever get a chance, it's recumbent cycling through the canopy of trees with a view of the Appalachian mountains.

That looks amazing. I will definitely keep that in mind.

[Chuck Ditallin]

Ooh, goodness, two gins in, so it's a dangerous time to answer...

Sledging on the Lickey Hills with my dad as the sun set.
He died the other day and I miss him.

Finishing my first Ironman. I really wasn't particularly fit and it hurt a lot... but what a buzz.

Running an ultra-marathon in Wales; it was dark and absolutely hosing down and had the sudden thought that there was no-one else around and if I strayed from the path I could die. It was utterly liberating.

Transalpine Run with a very good friend. Awesome! we spent 8 days doing 193 miles and taking the mickey out of all and sundry the whole time. We won some sunglasses, but don't like to talk about it!

Dating my wife, before she realised we were on dates...

Feeling like I'm on holiday, before realising I live here and every day is a holiday.

Being able to relieve someone's pain; it's the nearest to being God that a mortal can get. I'm glad I've retired, but that feeling will never leave me.

Oddly, the birth of my children doesn't feature. They were both delivered by C section (the first as an emergency); my (ex-)wife reacted badly to the anaesthetic, my first-born ended up in Special Care, I realised how potentially life-threatening childbirth can be. My feelings were far more complex than 'happy'. Hey ho, everyone lived, though there was a nasty divorce in our future...

[MrTurtle]

Riding BMX in my early 20s.  It was good for me in every way, made me more confident to the point that other people noticed, and (most of) the other BMXers were the coolest people I've ever met.  I recommend everyone encourage their kids to do it while they're young and it's still worth the risk.

Becoming a Professional Engineer.  It happened fairly recently, but I actually started to feel like I'm good at what I do after I passed the exam, even though passing an exam doesn't make me smarter.  Even ignoring the huge bump in income that resulted, the euphoria alone that came from passing the exam was worth the months of studying.

Saving a family that was lost in the forest and out of water, in the middle of summer in Florida.  They were following a map that was for the wrong park.  I'm sure it was a terrifying experience for them, but I really like being the guy that says "Everyone relax, I got this." 

[Alternatepriorities]

Thinking about the question it's pretty clear that the happiest I've been has been while traveling and spending large amounts of time outside.

Eight weeks traveling around Europe with a friend who is now my wife. We met up with eight other other friends over the course of those two months in different places as we went. Most of them were locals which let us see things we never would have otherwise.

On a two week 800 mile bike ride around AK. There was a little lake with ice just breaking up and flowing into the creek i was camped beside. It made an amazing sound as it clinked together in the stream. I bathed in that icy creek because my now wife was driving out to visit that evening. She brought real food too!

A week I spent in Brooks range hiking out to Gates of the Arctic NP with my bother. We didn't see another person for a week, as we wandered sheep and caribou trails through the mountains.

Back packing in Nepal... The Himalayan mountains are amazing and the people were great. Watching the sun set on Everest fulfilled a lifelong dream. I was in the best shape of my life by the time I made it back to Katmandu. The Annapurna circuit seemed almost effortless starting it in such good shape which felt great.

Walking the Camino De Santiago with my wife. My feet hurt nearly every day for two weeks, but it was still an awesome month and riding a bullet train back across Spain after we finished was surreal as I realized we were travelling as far each minute as we could walk in an hour. There is something about knowing you can walk across a country.

There have been a couple of days snowboarding that were nearly transcendent, but I haven't quite identified why. Also a few sledding trips (ski slopes at night on a $10 plastic sled).

The first few weeks of my first retirement. The possibilities felt infinite even thought the money wasn't. I hitched across the country and then roamed around AK doing things I'd never had the time and money to do growing up.

Another realization comes to mind as I write these down. They've all came about while on temporary retirements. Being FIRE is going to be good!

[Just Joe]

Listening to my family and friends talk about something that makes them happy... EDIT: listening to them geek out about something they like. A geek out tells me that whatever they are talking about is really important to them.

Oh and self-teaching myself to do something and then successfully doing it. Love to learn at my own pace and in my own way. Classrooms not so much.

[Fish Sweet]

I have many good ones, but just writing off the top of my head...

My two trips to Japan in 2014 and 2016 with friends.  They were, without a doubt, some of the most fun I've ever had traveling and I haven't regretted for a moment the money spent on those trips.  Specific memories... getting lost on the steps of Fushimi Inari under the hundreds of thousands of crimson torii gates as the sun set into dusk and the vivid green of the treetops faded into slow inky darkness... watching our shadows stretch across the concrete wharves of Yokohama on a balmy late afternoon when the clouds covered the horizon and and the blue of the sea and sky were very nearly the same shade... watching the whale shark swim in slow spirals in its tank at the Osaka Aquarium.

My dad's Sunday tradition of taking us to a hot pot restaurant for lunch and then spending an afternoon splashing around in the pool.  Such a simple everyday idyllic experience made bittersweet because he passed away recently.

Selling my crafts at nerd conventions... it's a hugely exhausting endeavor that takes months of prep for like 3-4 days of nonstop selling, and it is incredibly fun.  The sense of shared fun and camaraderie, chatting with people appreciating your work, seeing and spending time with friends from across the country and even overseas, and also the WILD after-hours parties after the craft hall is close... whew.  Obviously conventions aren't happening with the pandemic, and this is one of the things I miss the most.   

[Just Joe]

The first sip of coffee each morning. It's a form of meditation that starts the day right. Doesn't even have to be coffee, can be tea even so it's definitely the ritual I love.

Every time I see an unusual rainbow. I have seen a vertical rainbow in the mountains, a triple rainbow on my birthday, etc.

Making my first homemade spaghetti sauce while drinking wine with hubby and watching the sunset reflected on the red rock mountain not 1/2 a mile from our campsite.

Anytime I go walking under a forest canopy. We joke that I must be a woodland creature as woods are my happy place.

I highly recommend VeloVolant if you ever get a chance, it's recumbent cycling through the canopy of trees with a view of the Appalachian mountains.

Where did you visit in the Appalachians? Sounds fun!

[goldensam]

 I took a solo trip to Europe just before the pandemic- my first out of the country. I wandered around this glorious city for a week, eating and drinking everything, exploring different areas of the city on foot and by mass transit, just marveling at all the sites. At one point while admiring a portrait in an art museum, I just burst into tears. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for my good fortune of being able to finally afford to spend the money and have the PTO to fly halfway around the world to look at beautiful paintings, incredible architecture, and sites of historical significance, while enjoying delicious local cuisine every day and taking photos I will cherish forever. This was something I never imagined for myself, a child of a single mother who did not finish high school and struggled working multiple jobs just to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, who grew into a teenager who worked two jobs while trying to finish high school, and then became the first in my family to go to college with the help of lots of student loans. Yes, I've worked hard to get to this point in my life, but there is an incredible amount of luck and privilege that has been just as important. It all hit me like a ton of bricks, and I just started crying right there in the gallery. Later on in the trip, I was lucky enough to have gotten a ticket to see a show I had always wanted to see. I bawled at the beginning and the end of the show. So many happy, grateful tears that week! It was life changing and I can't wait to do it again.

[Metalcat]

The first sip of coffee each morning. It's a form of meditation that starts the day right. Doesn't even have to be coffee, can be tea even so it's definitely the ritual I love.

Every time I see an unusual rainbow. I have seen a vertical rainbow in the mountains, a triple rainbow on my birthday, etc.

Making my first homemade spaghetti sauce while drinking wine with hubby and watching the sunset reflected on the red rock mountain not 1/2 a mile from our campsite.

Anytime I go walking under a forest canopy. We joke that I must be a woodland creature as woods are my happy place.

I highly recommend VeloVolant if you ever get a chance, it's recumbent cycling through the canopy of trees with a view of the Appalachian mountains.

Where did you visit in the Appalachians? Sounds fun!

Canadian side, just north of Vermont, as in, I could see Vermont across the river.

[Wintergreen78]

When I was leaving the town I lived in for college. I was into road bicycle racing, and there were local training rides every week with 50-60 people. They were really difficult hilly rides and everyone on the ride pushed each other to make them as fast as possible. On the very last ride I would do before I left, I wanted to leave on a high note, and I was probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in. So, for the entire 90 minute ride I stayed near the front, whenever the pace slowed a little I went to the front and made the whole group speed up. About halfway through the ride I started hearing people complain about how fast the pace was. Then, on a long climb I rode away from the whole group by setting a pace no one else wanted to match. Near the end of the ride I got stopped by a stoplight and the group caught up. Right behind me I heard someone start to vomit from the effort.

When I think back to that sound, and know that I was the one who caused, it makes me happy.