Its the small things

Often when people are asked what their hopes and dreams are for the future we dream big. We want the big things in life including the big bucks, the big house and the big successes. I don't see anything wrong with dreaming big, often it takes the big dreams to get us taking those smaller steps but I do wonder if we get so caught up in the 'big picture' we often stop looking at the little bits and pieces that make our lives amazing.

Do we spend so long looking ahead we forget to look at now?

I was driving home tonight beside a river and it was right on dusk. The water was beautiful, a perfect reflection of the setting sun and beautiful silhouettes of people going about evening activities along the river. If I was a photographer I would have captured the beauty but instead it became embedded in my head. Thankfully, it was peak hour traffic so I was graced with a longer length of time to admire the natural beauty placed in front of me. It did lead me to wondering, out of the citizens enjoying that scenic route this evening how many people took even the briefest of moments to appreciate the sight that was being given to them for free. Or how many of them were to busy cursing the traffic for making them late home from work, or stressing about the weekend activities, or money, or anything to actually sit back and see what was placed in front of them.

I have a theory (one of many but definitely one of my favourites) that those of us who are unhappy spend so much time focused on what we are yet to receive we forget to appreciate what we already have. I believe that if we looked at what we had rather than what we wanted we would find something beautiful worth celebrating. For me, I don't need riches or bigness. Money is just a number and size is just a thing. For me its those little things that I get given every day that build and build on my happiness bank. I may be at my busiest, at my largest or at my most stressed but if I see that beautiful sight, even if its the same stretch up beach i've already walked on a hundred time, I still feel blessed by this simple everyday happiness.

This doesn't mean i'm not working towards the 'big picture'. I have dreams just like everyone else to one day have that amazing career i'm working hard towards, and a house to call my own but in the process of getting there I wontlet the lack of these things in my life determine my success or happiness. They will add to it, but definitely not make it.