I've been waiting for something amazing in my life to happen for a long time. I've been waiting for everything to turn around and start going the way I wanted it to. I've lived life with a blindfold over my eyes and when the constant flow of "amazingness" slowed down, I started asking myself the point. The point, or the points, rather, were hitting me in the face each day. They were words being spoken, some of the people around me, or the perfect amount of creamer and sugar in my coffee. They danced around me, all the time, and I so effortlessly forgot about them.

My advice to you? Don't do that. Because when the world seems as though it is crumbling in your hands, it is catching the sunset as you pass the window in a rush that queues you to come back down to Earth and count your smallest blessings, twice. Can't remember what makes life so full and exciting and sometimes messy (but worthwhile)? Here are a few reminders...

1. The smell of an old book
2. Cheeseburgers
3. Thunderstorms
4. Letting the sun shine on your face
5. Iced tea with a slice of lemon
6. Taking your bra off after a long day
7. Not wearing a bra to begin with
8. New tattoos
9. Shaved legs on clean sheets
10. Puppy kisses
11. Puppies in general
12. Getting butterflies in your stomach
13. The smell of your clothes after a bonfire
14. Sushi
15. Going to the beach
16. New underwear
17. Dancing in your new underwear
18. B&W photos
19. Coffee shops
20. Laughing until you cry
21. Crying until you laugh
22. Holding hands
23. Moscato
24. Roses, even though they have thorns
25. 80’s movies
26. Home-cooked meals
27. A new outfit
28. Saying “I love you”
29. The smell of your favorite person
30. Rainbows
31. Train rides
32. Reading your horoscope everyday
33. Traveling to new places
34. Revisiting old places
35. The fortunes inside of fortune cookies
36. Wearing lipstick and high heels
37. Wearing sweatpants and crocs
38. Any form of potato i.e. french fries, home fries, tater tots
39. A new toothbrush
40. Washing your face
41. Barnes & Noble purchases
42. Reading something that makes you smile
43. Seeing your best friend for the first time in a long time
44. A new pair of shoes
45. Giving compliments
46. Getting compliments
47. The first sip of an iced coffee
48. All the sips after that
49. Grandmas
50. Reading poems
51. Smiling at strangers
52. A good night’s sleep
53. Spanish food
54. Your favorite pair of jeans
55. Netflix
56. Sunflowers
57. Taking road trips
58. Listening to your favorite album from start to finish
59. The flip-side of a pillow
60. The smell of Autumn
61. Eating watermelon in the summertime
62. Snuggling
63. Eating cookie dough (despite the risk of salmonella)
64. Taking selfies
65. Pasta
66. Disney movies
67. Going to weddings
68. Getting packages in the mail
69. Cocoa butter
70. Coming home
71. Having a best friend
72. That best friend being your mom
73. Watching the sunset
74. Coloring in a coloring book
75. The Moon
76. Jumping in puddles
77. Making art
78. Sharing art
79. Inside jokes
80. Feeling comfortable in your skin
81. Long car rides with lots of music
82. Family dinners
83. Anything covered in cheese
84. Watching the first snowfall
85. Girl Scout cookies
86. Celebrating birthdays
87. Bubble baths
88. Singing on the top of your lungs
89. Solving problems
90. A cold shower on a hot day
91. Lazy Sundays
92. The clearance rack
93. New school supplies
94. Proving yourself wrong
95. Proving someone else wrong
96. Writing lists
97. Serendipities
98. Loving someone
99. Being loved back by that someone
100. Candles
101. Realizing that you get a new chance every morning

Real happiness isn't always something large or imminent, but something small, numerous, and already here. The white moon shining on the black sky, a smile on the face of the love of your life, or a smile on the face of your own. Your little everyday joys, all lined up in a row, waiting to be appreciated, because they are what make the bigger picture. It is often these small things, right in front of us, that give us the purpose we so persistently spend our lives searching for.