20 Everyday Things Worth Your Appreciation
If you’re anything like me, you have to work hard at being happy and that includes cherishing all the small stuff that’s usually waved off in the face of anxiety. This, however, is exhausting so instead I’ve been making a deliberate effort to absorb the daily moments I’m hardwired to dismiss. And to my dubious discovery, it’s these little incidents, these quiet occurrences, that can make a day if you let them.
• Casually arriving at the station just as the train pulls up. You didn’t see it from a distance then dash — you got there and 13 seconds later, your line was all, Oh heyyy, funny seeing you here! Need a lift?
• Making a new friend on said train even if you don’t know his name and will probably never see each other again. Because when you both held in snorts after that Guy Fieri doppelganger lost his shit for missing his stop, you had a connection.
• Finding out someone in your office is pregnant, which can only mean one thing: cupcakes.
• Running farther than you thought you could. You just got into that elusive groove where your pace perfectly syncs up with the beat of the song and you can actually breathe and your knees aren’t even mad at you!
• Getting a free chai latte because the barista messed up your order and gave you skim instead of soy, but it’s chill because you’re only kinda lactose intolerant and he looked like River Phoenix.
• Learning that something you love has returned, like an old friend who moved back or Excedrin Extra Strength.
• Hanging out with a kid and/or pet you don’t see very often. There’s something magical about holding a tiny warm body that you’re not responsible for keeping alive.
• Walking down the street when the sun comes out, which is already pretty lovely, then finding a pair of shades at the bottom of your bag.
• Receiving a text from someone you think about more than you care to admit, asking what you’re up to this weekend — and it’s only Thursday afternoon. Aww sookie.
• Being called “baby” by the big, sassy checkout lady you always thought hated you up until now.
• Still doing that thing you wanted to do, even after your friends bailed. Yes, I’m eating a plate of assorted cheeses by myself at this random popup gallery while everyone around me verbally sucks each other’s artistic tit. What of it?
• Having a sibling contact you because they want your advice. Specifically yours.
• Waking up after a night you decided to mix every kind of alcohol with every kind of juice with every kind of caffeine product and feeling inexplicably refreshed. I know it’s super confusing but just go with it!
• Having a tweet you were proud of get multiple RTs (and if you can’t admit this feels extraordinary, you should talk to someone about denial issues).
• Going to dinner and eating like a fat, corrupt king with that one friend who always encourages your gluttony while enjoying every second of it without guilt.
• Visiting your downstairs doctor and finding out all your business checks out fine. I mean, you thought it would because you have sex maybe three times a year and are crazy careful when you do but, like, now you KNOW.
• Finding a $5 bill in the back pocket of a pair of jean shorts you haven’t worn since last summer, along with a receipt from that time you and your roommate thought it would be cool to wear matching clip-on hair extensions to a concert.
• Being told you’re doing a good job by your boss at whatever it is you feared you were failing at.
• Treating yourself, even if it just means drinking a homemade Moscow Mule while you watch RuPaul’s Drag Race with a nose strip on.
• Remembering you’re doing just fine. Seriously, everything’s going to be okay. Maybe not everything with a capital E, but many things, and the things that aren’t fine will become finer with time. Give it some of that. The time.
You can read more from Julia Lertiene Shiplett on her blog.
