I wore one of my favorite tops yesterday - sea foam green with white polka dots. My favorite part of wearing it is I have perfectly matching earrings and necklace. Each time I passed a mirror it gave me a little spark of joy to be so matchy-matchy.
It's the little things, right?
Sometimes they're what get us through a tough day. Plus, if we only find happiness in the big things - vacations, promotions, weddings, concerts - we may not be happy so often. But if we can find even happiness in little things, those little happinesses add up.
I have a long history of enjoying the little things. When we went out to restaurants when I was a kid, all six of us shared a few sodas. But when we were on vacation, we each got our own drinks. I still smile when I remember the excitement of getting my own bottle of Snapple! Another happy memory is my dad stopping at the convenience store and picking a special snack for each of us at the start of our road trip home from Ohio. Another is playing bingo out on our back porch; the prizes were the free items Mom had saved from cereal boxes over the year. Another is running outside after the rain and shaking the tree branches over each other's heads. Or the time Dad drove me to band camp on his motorcycle. Most of my happy memories are from relatively ordinary experiences that felt special, not from big adventures or life-changing moments.
I'll bet it's the same for you - different experiences, different memories, but the same type of "little things matter" moments.
If you want to be just a little bit happier, delight in the little things - that one feature you're really grateful for in your vehicle, the smile you got from a stranger, the way your purchases added up to $11.11, the new pen someone gave you, the perfectly ripe mango you cut at just the right time, the peek of sun through the clouds, the five consecutive green lights, the conversation that goes more easily than you feared, the lost item you found, the sale on your favorite snack, the "this used to be my favorite!" song that's playing on the radio, the sound of children laughing...
Delight in the little things.
Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash