It's The Small Things That Count...

It is not uncommon for the major events to define one's life. Occasionally there will be a heartwarming story in the paper headlined something like, “Man jumps into river to save drowning child and dog”, and although this provides a welcome change to the death and despair that so often fills our newspapers, an inevitable string of thoughts to follow. Often we look for these ‘defining’ moments in our own lives, and we cannot help but to wonder, would I be able to do that in a similar situation? The typical English response would be to stand around with a disapproving look on one’s face bellowing “Something should be done about this!” followed by several angry e-mails and letters to the local MP who will inevitably never read them due to the enormity of the task of ploughing through his daily sacks of hate mail in order to find them. 

With this considered, it seems strange that we seek to define our lives through such moments, especially since they rarely happen. Instead, I find it much more fulfilling to focus on the smaller things in life. If we each focus, even if it is just for a moment, perhaps even write a list of 30 of life’s little wonders, we can find so many things to be grateful for and hopefully develop a more positive outlook. 

I am grateful for warm strawberries, watching the night sky, text alerts, shoelaces, taps, my fingers, my thumbs, pyjamas, a roof, my senses, sliced bread, family, friends, small friends (since we are on the subject of little things!), colours, laughter, music, hugs, spell-check, grandparents, air, electricity, the middle of nowhere, green, sleep, humour, amusing texts sent to me during history lessons, steering wheels, vegetarian food, and ketchup.

Be grateful for everything, be grateful for you.