Looking back on your day today, I want you to ask yourself something that can be overly complicated, but in actuality is very simple. What brought you joy today?
For me, I can think of a couple of things when all the negativity washed away and I was left with just happy feelings, at least, for a moment. I remember when I made someone laugh just the other day. The person wasn’t gasping for air or doubled over, but they were laughing genuinely, and that made me smile. Another time I was watching my cat chase a white puff ball around and when he got tired, he plopped down next to me and lay with me for a minute. It was nothing unexpected, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t special, because it still makes me happy just thinking about it.
The point of both these examples is that your day can be brought to life by something as simple as a cat chasing a puffball. Sometimes we think that we need to have big achievements or obvious successes in our day to feel fulfilled, when it’s the small things that, a lot of times, bring us the most joy, and it is the accumulation of these little memories that make up our lives. The power of small moments is not always obvious, but it has a huge impact on our lives.
What we need to realize is that it’s not just about the few important highs and lows in our life, it’s about every little thing we experience and do that makes us who we are.
For most of my life, I’ve always liked to think about the big questions: What is my place in the universe? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life?
But what I’ve learned is that these things aren’t necessarily as important as I thought. What’s more important is asking these types of questions:
What can I do to make other’s lives better?
Can I make my own little piece of the world a better place?
How do I live my life to the fullest?
Our lives are made up of a billion tiny moments that we don’t often appreciate until we realize we’re speeding through each day so fast that all the joy disappears. The best books and movies remind us of the infinite wonder in the small things, while the worst make us think that life is about jumping from one explosion to the next.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” but in reality, it’s actually better to slow down, because the small things are what matter while the big stuff comes and goes. It’s when we slow down that we realize what makes us happy. We discover the things that make us tick and the people who truly care about us.
Recently, I myself have tried to appreciate the “small stuff,” in my life and it’s helped me better understand who I am. I’ve learned to appreciate the things that make me unique, and the attributes that make me stand out from others aren’t necessarily bad but make me…me.
I hope that from now on, you’ll pay attention to the simpler things in your life more than ever because it’s the little moments that make us feel alive and remember who we are.
