Nineteen Little Things of Beauty

One of the hardest aspects of not-being-a-kid-anymore is trying to break out of the cycle of mundanity, even for just a few moments, to appreciate those things in life which can help us realise why everything that we put ourselves through is worth it. I often find many a things spiralling out of control and then I have a hard time reminding myself how those things are not what should matter. Those are not the things of beauty. Therefore at the very last day of this year, I am thinking about all the little yet powerful and utterly radiant things that I had observed and or experienced this year and I am enlisting nineteen of those here:

1. Going for strolls, with just yourself, after twilight in late November are worth the shortness of breath and sore calf muscles,
2. Waking up before birds means that you can also get to sleep before them with not a single item remaining unchecked on your to-do list,
3. Tearing up your to-do list into smithereens at least once every month is quite liberating,
4. Finding out that people who smile looking at their phone screens and not getting mad when you ask them about it are often sweet and kind,
5. Holding doors for people buys you time to decide as to which side of the door you actually want to be at (not everyone gets that amazing an opportunity),
6. Reading until you see double of everything but still cannot stop is an addiction that you do not need to get evaluated for,
7. Getting to hear from a friend whom you hadn’t heard from in ages and had worried about them brings genuine sense of relief,
8. Someone asking how you had been doing and not zoning out when you are telling them about it is insanely awesome,
9. Rooting for those you care about and then getting to see them doing good and getting what they deserve,
10. Hearing from a teacher how they still remember you and are looking forward to see you do good things in life,
11. Watching a movie or reading a book that takes you way back into your childhood and erases all sense of time for a few moments,
12. Not letting sadness hit you when you see someone getting old because you know how amazing a life they had lived,
13. Finding out that someone who is highly educated and wealthy is still awfully polite and grounded,
14. Incessantly worrying about something for days at end and then waking up one day to find out that you couldn’t remember what it was all about,
15. Accepting that there are certain things you are not passionate about and you no longer have to keep doing them,
16. People thanking you for a small act of kindness when all they ever themselves do is be enormously kind,
17. Not freaking out catching yourself procrastinating because you finally know that you are able to power-up at the last moments and get the job done,
18. Finding yourself doing things that you never thought you could do on your own,
19. Your family not giving up on you even when you are ready to throw in the towel and that show of support in itself being motivation enough to go on!

The world maybe a dark place but it does have lamp posts and lighthouses that still work fine. Here’s to hope that every one of us shall have a year full of small and big wonderful moments! Happy New Year!