Little things

What would you see if your life suddenly flashed before your eyes? Would it be momentous occasions? I'm willing to bet that it would be a jumble of little things. Maybe a flashback to playing in the sun as a child, followed by a picture of the bus or train you just missed that day. Most of us don't have lives of high drama, like a soap opera character. As Oliver Wendell Holmes has said, "Life is a great bundle of little things."

And it's the accumulation of "little things" that can either leave us feeling stressed or happy. I'm sure you can recall a day when nothing seemed to go right. And it wasn't because anything really bad had happened, like being fired from a job or having an accident. But somehow you found yourself feeling angry or tired at the end of the day. Perhaps it was just a string of little things, like being splashed by a passing car, discovering you forgot a shopping list, and then the rude behavior of a passerby.

But I'd just like to point out that we can choose which "little things" we pay attention to. Take that imaginary string of little things I just mentioned. Maybe you were splashed by a passing car, but then the sun came out and promised a beautiful day. That shopping list you forgot? Maybe you saw an item that you'd always wanted just came on sale. Someone was rude to you? Maybe another person pointed out that you dropped something that you would have regretted losing.

You can create your own string of "little things" that will leave you feeling happy rather than stressed at the end of a day. Bask in a beautiful day, share a joke or a smile, do some little thing that gives you pleasure.

After all, it's always the little things, isn't it?