Magic of little things in life

When your mother makes your favorite dish or when receiving flowers from someone who cares about you or your boss appreciating your work or maybe something even more relatable like getting a parking spot right beside the entrance. We feel glad if these happen. However, we merely are aware of these elements in our life, seldom taking the time to appreciate them.

“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”

Unfortunately, we no longer pause and reflect on the joy, happiness of our lives – no matter how small they are. Instead of experiencing happiness in this very moment, we more often than not postpone it for something big. Waiting for something “big” makes us work for more all the time. Once we accomplish the “big” goal, we are already after the next one.

Life is not always hungry for more

This “hungry for more” attitude focuses our attention on things we don’t have. And trick us into believing that chasing them, is a path to reach happiness. While this results in discontent if we fail to attain the desires, it shifts our focus far away from the present moments to rejoice. We are so heavily occupied with the pursuit of “more” that we are no longer content with what “is”.

Of course, this hunger is what drives you to be successful. But, it must be kept in check to enjoy the little moments and embracing the subtler pleasures. Because going down this path might lead to a vacuum of “What did I even push myself for?” The key is to control this “hungry for more” and balance it. But how?

• Have a sense of purpose: Studies say, channeling mental attention into challenging activities can be more rewarding than leisure activities such as watching TV or surfing the internet. Therefore, have a committed purpose in life and work on it. When your efforts are rewarded, the happiness is real. Make sure you enjoy the reward you earned.
• Show gratitude: Extend the gratitude to people who have made difference in your life. Be grateful – to the smallest of the things. This can significantly boost your mood. Practice gratitude therapy.
• Simplify: Keep your life less of complications. Too many choices, too many activities, too much of anything can lead to stress and loss of contentment.
• Don’t be afraid of failures: At some point, we all face rejection. Don’t become judgmental of failures in life.  Accepting and learning from rejection is one of the best ways to guide you to success.
• Avoid toxicity: Don’t hold onto grudges. Practice the “Forgive n Forget” mantra to stay out of toxic feelings like hate and vengeance. Because it can mentally wear you out and makes you miserable. And most importantly, stay away from people who drain your vibes.
• Self-care: Get your beauty sleep. Eat less junk food. Exercise regularly.

Calm in the chaos

These are the simplest of the things we could follow to keep our minds calm and happy. But easier said than done. So let’s take one step at a time.
Let us all create a schedule for ourselves, where we practice each one of the above for a week. And use the last day of the week to retrospect how that one change made impacts on us and our happiness.

Even the smallest of changes you make will be helpful. Remember chaos theory that explores in-depth changes that can result from the smallest of changes. Each flap of our wings, each step we take, each action we make can make a huge difference.

We have read on countless self-help books that happiness starts from within. So let us try to use them in our lives and see how it works. Being grateful for the little things is a unique skill helping not only to be contented with your life but also to be less dependent on the outcome of external circumstances. It marks the first step towards discovering the true source of happiness which lies within.

Here are the starters for you to realize you have so many things around to rejoice and feel happy about.