The Little Things

My friend Roma has an amazing page on Facebook called Living in Gratitude. When I first heard of it, I wondered, "What could she post every day to be grateful for?" My mind immediately went to the big-ticket items, like health, relationships, money, a home, etc. Of course, with those kinds of things, I'd run out of things to be grateful for pretty quickly.

But my friend is much smarter than I about this. I notice that she focuses on "the little things." I love that, and as I sit here writing, I can now notice so much more to be grateful for: the song of two birds outside my window, the breeze that is gently blowing in on me from outside, the luxurious feel of the heat of the day as it soaks into my bones and warms me after a long and rather cool winter, the smell of the air here-a combination of wood, fresh grass, dust, wisteria, and the ocean, the sight of all the bees and insects flying around in the dappled sunlight outside my window, this computer and blog, which allows me to communicate my thoughts... The list is endless and it came from just that one moment!

I get so busy, I pay no attention to these little things. After all, they're just insignificant, and I have much more important things to do! And that! That belief right there has caused me so much grief over the years. I have focused on the "big picture" and ignored the little details. I've steamrollered past the moments of my life to get to the goal. But, the little things, the moments, are where the power is, because in order to notice the little things, I have to pay attention to this moment, now. That's the only place that's real. It's also the only place where I can be truly content--right here, right now, paying attention to the little things.