I think there are two things you can learn from “small things” in life, which are to appreciate them, and to not cling to them.We all probably have heard of these before, but sometimes it’s hard to remind ourselves.
Look back at yourself. Whether you weren’t thankful for small things you have in your life, or you didn’t even pay attention to small things at all, sometime we find ourselves not seeing the love we are receiving from other and just nag for bigger and better things. Or we cling onto the smallest things and worry about them.
Well you know how small things can have big impacts in your life. Just look around yourself. Do you see the clear blue sky? Got textbooks in your backpack? Had a bowl of cereal this morning? Took a nap two hours ago? We all expect to have these things every day in our lives. But not everyone gets these things. Don’t you think we take a lot of things for granted? Some people are suffering financially and can’t afford to buy any meals. Think that comparison is too extreme? It might sound like it, but I’m not talking about how some of us are living better lives than others here. I am saying that no matter who you are, we take things for granted and we need to be thankful for things we already have. Let’s remind ourselves every morning or right before we go to bed of the small things we are thankful for. It could be your family, friends, pets, foods or really anything. As Pooh said from Winnie the Pooh, “Sometimes, the smallest things take up most room in your heart.”
For me, I tend to focus on looking at the big picture and I forget about the small things. Especially as a college student, planning my future is the most important to me. I want to all these things when I graduate that I sometimes forget about the little things that are happening in my life right now. For example, I get stressed because of exams and homework that I stare at my phone and walk quickly between classes. Then I look up around me and see how beautiful KU campus is, how thankful I am for going to college, learning what I love to learn and experiencing lots of new things. I mean, isn’t it great? Studying is hard but think about the things you are getting from it. So, let’s “enjoy the little things in life, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things.”
I watched a short clip on YouTube the other day. This guy who went skydiving sent a video message for his brother living in Canada. In his message to his brother, he mentions how things that seemed so big that made him worried a lot look so small as if they are nothing looking from the sky. Personally, this really struck me. A lot of people tend to cling onto small things and get very frustrated about them. I tend to do that sometimes, stressing too much about this one mistake I made on a quiz or something like that. I would go through emotional breakdown for few days and constantly complain how hard my life is. Then I realize how silly I am acting. I laugh so hard thinking about the things I was stressed about. I am not saying that the hard time you had isn’t important. We all learn a lot of things from it. But we shouldn’t stress about the thing you don’t need to. At the end, it already happened, and the only thing you can do is not repeat the same mistake next time.