All the Little Things

Oddly enough, it takes very little to make me smile these days. I suppose that when every major aspect of your life goes so completely wrong, the little things are all you have left. There are many things I used to take for granted, things that I never acknowledged in any significant way for the happiness they brought to my life. But now, those days are over.

The last seven months have taken me to depths of despair I never knew existed, depths I’m not yet nearly far enough away from. That sounds overly dramatic, doesn’t it? Well, dramatic or no, it’s the truth. It feels as though I have become the universe’s very own punching bag, particularly when the remaining stable areas of my life are picked off one by one like some sort of cosmic game of Duck Hunt (which has happened more than once in the last month). So, the big things have become, to understate, unreliable sources of happiness.

Fine. Screw the big things. Life isn’t about the big things, anyway, is it? This jumbled string of minutes that makes up our days is full of small moments and things, seemingly insignificant, that create the massive whole we’re all a part of. And if I am going to have any hope of getting through this disaster that stubbornly insists on not ending, I no longer have the luxury of ignoring them. For example:

~ A sunny day. It was unseasonably gorgeous outside today, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to put my to-do list on hold, grab a book, and sit outside to enjoy it.

~ Chocolate chip cookies made from scratch. Chewy, just the way I like them, and enough of a stockpile to get me through a rough week.

~ A good TV show. There’s nothing like being able to escape into another world for an hour or so, to take a temporary break from reality.

~ Planners. I love whoever invented the planner. I would never get anything done if it weren’t for mine!

~ Candlelight. Such a small thing, so easily accessed, and it never fails to soothe me.

~ A good pair of running shoes. Working out my troubles while pounding the pavement has gotten me through more than one impossible day.

~ Granny Smith apples. One of my favorite fruits, and my current snack of choice. Especially with some salt sprinkled on the slices.

~ A favorite book. Like old friends, and even better than a good show, I have a few beloved works that I turn to whenever I really need to get out of my head. They never let me down.

~ Flip-flops. That’s right, flip-flops. They signal warm weather, and it makes me incredibly happy to be able to bust them out of their winter hibernation.

Are these large, life-altering things? No. Do they completely balance out the misery I sometimes feel smothered in? Not really. But they do shine tiny beams of light through the darkness. And if I pay close enough attention to the light, sometimes I can forget the darkness for a little bit. It’s a lesson I’m getting better and better at adhering to, and one that I plan to take with me and hold close no matter what the future holds. Because I have found that there really is value in occasionally stopping to smell the roses.

Lesson of the Day: Sometimes, it’s the small things in life that make life worth living.