Celebrate the Little Joys in Life

Little Joys in Life

Little joys in life should be celebrated, as life is a series of happy moments, and happiness is a celebration of life and a celebration of being alive. Happiness is not something which can be postponed for enjoyment at a later date.

Upon going through my school autograph book, I happened to come across a note penned by one of my classmates, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift—that’s why it is called the present. “

How true! Life can be lived only one day at a time. Human nature being what it is, we fret over the past and worry about the future . . . yet in the process we miss out on today’s gift.

We live life in a constant rush of doing things and rushing from one point to another in our lives, accomplishing much but never really standing still to count our blessings.

It is when we are faced with our mortality or the loss of things we have always taken for granted that we look for little joys  in life. Most of us would be familiar with the immortal lines of the W H Davies poem, “What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.”

Many people lose the little joys in the hope for the big happiness. ~ Pearl S. Buck. (Tweet this)

Those lines express the bane of our modern life: we run fast to get more of everything—higher salaries, bigger houses, better cars, the dream of a secure future—in the process we rush through our day without stopping to smell the roses. What happened to the little joys in life, that once made your life so fun and alive?

How do We Find and Enjoy Little Joys in Life?

“Welcome small joys in life, Smile, breathe and go slowly” says Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. This sutra for daily living talks about the need to embrace daily joys in life.

The wise monk further says “Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.”

The Zen precept of mindfulness—the awareness of the present moment—is essential to find joy in the present. To find joy in the smallest of things, it is essential to decide what is important to us. It could be the company of loved ones, it could be a vocation or a hobby, it could lie in achieving an ambition

Once it is clear as to what is important to us, we can simply declutter our life of what is not important. It could be as simple as cleaning the house of clutter. Once we simplify our life, we make room for more joy in our life.

Making Little Joys in Your Life Count

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~ Abraham Lincoln (Tweet this)

The gist of the above is that we should resolve to be happy and find joy in the smallest of things in life. Life is not a spectator sport. We need to participate in it every moment we are living. Being happy is up to each individual.

Extract Little Joys from Life

Enjoy the little joys in life that come your way each day! Not all of us are destined for great things. Most of us live perfectly ordinary lives, doing ordinary things. It is up to us to make this life count.

Have you experienced the joy of being the highest scorer in a board game? Did you feel the excitement of paying a surprise visit to your grandparents? Try to do simple things that bring you joy and satisfaction even for a day or just a few hours.

We need to celebrate life in the smallest of wonders—the smile of a baby, the smell of the first raindrops on parched earth, the sight of a kitten gambolling after a piece of string, the smell of the sweet dish on the stove, the beauty of the colourful rangoli, the sound of the chirping birds early in the morning, the smell of paper in a new book, the abandon with which children greet the last bell signalling the end of a school day, their laughter on a playground—all these are everyday things that bring me great joy.

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About the Author

Vasantha Chary is an avid reader and a passionate writer. She believes in reaching out to people across the world through her well researched articles. She has been writing for the internet for over 4 years on a variety of topics of general interest.

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