Pay attention to the little happy things, you’ll have more fun.

The most irrelevant things make me happy. Things that are so small that they wouldn’t exist if I didn’t pay close attention. Things that might not even really exist but exist because I want them to. Things that I probably don’t notice most of the time but once in a while I do.

Here are a few:
-when I’m listening to music and I see my mom do something to the beat that she can’t hear.
-when I’m irritating my dog and I realise suddenly that I can see my reflection in his eyes.
-when I learn a new word and I hear it somewhere else.
-when I hear lyrics for the millionth time but it only then hits me what they mean.

This is me and my joy. Think about all the people in the world and all the little things that make them happy. It’s so unnecessarily romantic but so encouraging. Maybe someone was walking down the road with their headphones on and someone else walked by them to the right beat. Or a stranger’s dog rubbed against them. Or they saw two birds having the time of their lives with each other in the water. Maybe someone spelt someone else’s name right on the first try. Maybe you saw someone do something cute and it made you smile. It’s everywhere if you look for it and nowhere if you choose not to see it. Somewhere in the world, a child giggled and their dad melted a little inside, and somewhere else, someone’s best friend told them they loved them. Or maybe you just giggled and your dad thought he was grateful for you or your best friend misses you. The point is it’s happening everywhere, all the time, whether you’re paying attention or not, so you might as well pay attention.

It is dramatic but let me tell you why it’s important. My mom had Covid a couple of weeks ago and was quarantined in the guest room. Her room is only two walls away from the dining table and if the windows are open in the kitchen and her room, she can hear everything that’s going on. A couple of days ago she told me that every day at around 12pm when I came down to eat, she would hear me pulling out the chair, whistling, and talking to my dog and that it was a little thing that made her happy and feel less lonely. That was one of her little things. So find your little things and go look for them.

I give a lot of thought to what the purpose of life is and how to achieve it, but until I’m able to figure it out, it’s enough for me to think that enjoying these little things could be it. If you take money, food, and all things tangible out of the equation, it feels like there’s nothing more fulfilling than to enjoy the small things that happen anyway since we don’t have control over a majority of it. Next time you’re playing with a dog, look for your reflection in their eyes, I promise you it’s entertaining.