Oprah's Favorite Instant Mood Boosters

Courtesy of OWN/Robin Layton

By Oprah Winfrey

Every morning when I open my curtains for that first look at the day, no matter what the day looks like -- raining, foggy, overcast, sunny -- my heart swells with gratitude. I get another chance. When you think about it, it's truly awesome: seven billion people finding their way in the world, trying to make sense of the human diaspora.

In the best of times and worst of times, I know for sure, this life is a gift. Yes, I recognize that I get to live on a big scale. But in the end the only difference between being famous and not is that more people know my name. When it comes to what really matters -- what makes us laugh and cry, grieve and yearn, delight and rejoice -- we share the same heart space. We just fill it with different things. Here are 20 of my favorites:

1. Planting vegetables in my garden.

2. Making blueberry-lemon pancakes on Sunday morning for Stedman. Never fails to delight him—like he's 7 every time.

3. An off-leash romp on the front lawn with all five dogs.

4. A rainy day, a chill in the air, a blazing fire in the fireplace.

5. Picking vegetables from my garden.

6. A great book.

7. Reading in my favorite place on Earth: under my oaks.

8. The spinach, goat cheese and herb pizza at ABC Kitchen in New York City.

9. Tazo's Passion tea, with a little lemon and fresh mint.

10. Cooking vegetables from my garden.

11. A drink handmade by my pal Eddie Chavez.

12. Sleeping till my body wants to wake up.

13. Waking up to the real twitter: birds.

14. A workout so strong, my whole body breathes.

15. Eating vegetables from my garden.

16. Being still.

17. Embracing silence.

18. Listening to Snatam Kaur's version of "Ong Namo."

19. Scones at the Hotel Bel-Air. If Queen Elizabeth only knew, she'd eat no others.

20. Gratitude as a daily spiritual practice. Every day I bless my life by counting my blessings.

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