This is for when you fail that test. For when you oversleep again and miss the test altogether. For when you don't get the job you wanted, even though you thought the interview went well. For when you spill coffee on your impeccably-ironed white blouse before the most important interview of your life. For when the person you love breaks your heart. For when you break your own.
Here are 40 little things that make life worth living, for the days when it feels like there aren't any.
1. Hugging your loved one so tight neither one of you can breathe.
2. Seeing couples reunite at the airport.
3. Taking the long route home just to listen to your favorite playlist for a little longer.
4. The smile someone gives you when you accidentally meet their gaze.
5. Black and white photos of your parents.
6. Lying in bed during a thunderstorm. Listening to the rain crash down on the windows. Feeling peace in the violent renewal.
7. Autumn leaves the color of Merlot, and sunlight, and your favorite dark lipstick.
8. First kisses. The lingering glances. The simmering curiosity. The delicate innocence of it all.
9. Laughing so hard your sides hurt.
10. The realization that you’re falling in love again.
11. The restoration of the belief that it’s possible to fall in love again.
12. The jolt in your chest when you think about them.
13. Fresh sheets.
14. Peonies in the spring.
15. The garden scene in Notting Hill.
16. Bonfires at the end of summer.
17. Sunsets.
18. Sunrises.
19. Cities that are so beautiful and beyond anything you ever imagined you feel the strange and sudden urge to cry.
20. Looking around at a concert and realizing that 80,000 strangers have felt the way you’ve felt.
21. Friendships that are bursts of positivity in your life.
22. Dancing until you’re sweating and your feet are aching and you’re feeling more alive than ever.
23. Going out to get breakfast in the middle of the night.
24. Coffee on a Saturday morning. The unhurried walk into the kitchen. The smell of French roast suffusing the room. The caffeine coursing through your veins.
25. Cozying up in front of the fireplace with a blanket, fuzzy socks, and a mug of hot chocolate (with extra marshmallows, always).
26. Burning a new candle.
27. Watching the clouds of your first winter breath hang in the air.
28. Laundry that’s still warm from the dryer.
29. Boys that smell like fresh laundry.
30. Boys whose laughs could cure all the heartache in the world.
31. People who laugh. A lot. Even when their heart aches.
32. Watching your favorite show while taking a bath and noticing how all the words adopt an otherworldly echo.
33. Opening up a new bottle of shampoo and letting the scent of sandalwood and vanilla permeate the space.
34. Opening up a bottle of your favorite wine.
35. Watching a scene in your favorite TV show that brings you so much joy you can’t contain yourself.
36. Watching a scene in your favorite TV show that shatters your heart.
37. Hearing a song that you feel with every fiber of your being.
38. The crispness of the air on the nights where you can see all the stars.
39. Text messages from unexpected people.
40. The kindness of strangers.
Simply wanting to live can be the most impossible goal sometimes. But we have to remember that even on the days when nothing seems to be going our way, there are always things in life that are beautiful. There are always things to anticipate and appreciate. There are always things to live for.
