"Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air." -Georges Bernanos

While growing up every big thing was an exciting adventure; going to the grocery store was the equivalent to getting your driver's license on the first try or getting to go to the aquarium was just like winning the lottery. Everything was amazing, wonderful, and honestly simple. There was no stress and life was a party without sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. Sounds like a paradise right?

Now living in the adult word my life revolves around stress, money, and keeping my family happy (well happy enough). Cherishing moments of having a surplus of money in my bank account and when I don't have to do any work (paperwork, cleaning, and everything in between). I worry about sleeping through my six alarms for work instead of worrying that I wouldn't be able to catch that specific butterfly at dusk in my backyard. Everything big or small now as an adult seams like a huge, big, or monstrous deal that has to be dealt with right now or you're a failure.

With in the mixture of being a responsible adult and trying to remember to channel our inner kid like charm of remembering to smile. It is very important to look for the little things in life. What is a little thing you ask? It is a thing that makes you happy. You may have to look for this happy ray of sunshine, but when you find it you will immediately get an instant smile and you will be able to only focus on your little form of happiness.

"Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits." -Thomas Jefferson

My little thing in life (well one of them) is sitting down with a cup of coffee in the morning as I listen to either my favorite podcast or watch a lets play that I have seen before as I slowly sip my cup of coffee and enjoy the quiet and silence around me. It is a very theraputic way for myself to wake up in the morning and the mornings I can do this, I tend to have a more productive day and I am in a better mood.

Sadly it took the death of my older brother to open up my own eyes to the little things in life. It's almost like he is guiding me from one little momental/little thing of happiness to another to make sure I stay happy with a smile on my face. I learned quickly after his death that the big things didn't matter anymore. There will always be another aquarium visit and I could always retry to get my license (I am a licensed Massage Therapist), but I would never get the opportunity to hug my brother again, well hug him again in this lifetime. I cherish the goodbye hug he gave me over three years ago as I was traveling to the airport with my mom to fly home back to Illinois (not knowing at the time it would be the last time I would see him again). I cherish all of our little meaningless conversations because that's all I have left of him and I cherish the memories him and I made growing up together. Someday he is the little thing of happiness in my life or at least the source of my happiness.

So, as you go through the rest of 2016 or the rest of just the month of November, take time and find the little things in each day that make your smile. Whether it be a cup of coffee to walking outside and seeing a flower bloom; make your happiness unique to you and have that happiness make you smile.

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us." -Ashley Montagu