In high school, I was a person who worried about everything. I was always putting homework first, working hard to make sure my GPA was high enough and I was always looking for more extracurricular activities and volunteer experiences to be involved in to make my resume look outstanding. After all of that was in order, then I could schedule the time to hang out with my friends, hoping I might be relieved of some of my stress and lose it in the times of happiness. But even then, I believed true happiness could only be experienced during big moments. I'd be lost in the memories of smiles and laughter for a day or two and quickly return to the stress and worry.
In the almost two years since graduation and the beginning of my freshman year of college, a lot has taught me that that's not the way I should be looking at life. None of us should look at life like it consists of miles of valleys and a gruesome uphill battle and only a short-lived moment of glory at the top of the mountain.
The truth is, life is about enjoying the smell of flowers we find in the valleys. Life is about finding a stream along the way and sitting and enjoying the sounds of the water splashing against the rocks. Life is about running into a friend on your path and taking a break to sit and talk. Life is about knowing when it's time to rest and take a moment for yourself when walking up the mountain. Life is about stopping, looking out and taking in the view when you're feeling tired.
In my time in college, I quickly realized that I was gaining nothing from being a worrywart. Sure, getting a good education and working hard for good grades is something to be thankful for, but at what cost? Is it worth letting the stress from my classes become stress that affected almost every other aspect of my life?
When I started realizing just how much stress and anxiety was affecting my life, I knew a change needed to happen. It took a lot of outward circumstances and a lot of inward motivation to chase this change, but I can now say I'm at a point in my life in which I can find joy in the little things.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it." — Ferris Bueller's Day Off
We need to take our heads out of our agendas, out of our phones and look around at the gifts life is granting us every single day. The gifts we tend to recognize are the ones wrapped in ginormous boxes with a golden bow on top, the moments of absolute bliss that consist of adventures with dear friends or the opportunity of a dream internship. But there are also gifts wrapped in little, white boxes; you'll only find those if you take the time to really look for them, but boy, there's a real treasure awaiting you in that little, white box.
When you decide to work to find the happiness in the little things, I can say from experience that it will change the way you feel about and look at your entire life. The stresses of your responsibilities may never change, but you'll be able to find more joy and peace when you allow yourself to enjoy the little things, joy and peace that will get you through those stresses.
Soon enough, you'll find that it won't be hard to see the little things. Soon enough, it'll be all you see.
