The Smallest Things in Life

What makes you the most happy? I know for me it’s the joy of waking up early, just to see the vibrant colors of the sunrise. How the rosy pink sky fades into a violet purple and again into the brightest but softest orange. Then, going to school to see my friends after endless days apart. To walk home in the blissful heat of the sun after a long, long day. Unlocking my old, cracked door as quietly as I can. But I can never master silent, because I hear the thud of paws against wood, running towards me. I flinch as a ball of fur jumps into my arms, coming with it, a beaming, comforting welcome. I smile knowing no matter what I do, or how quiet I am, my dog will find me. I am grateful for his radiant but stinky goodness that warms the sunless windows, because it’s like watching the sun take over the piercing darkness. Although the warmest and brightest moments of my life are very, very small, I am alright with that because sometimes the most radiant things in life come often small and simple.

When I was little, I read and adored the genre of fiction. I still do now, but my imagination is worn and my sparks of imagination no longer hold a roaring fire. But I remember clearly reading Harry Potter and day dreaming how I would be swept off into a world of magic and wonder. Daydreaming was an escape to everyday life and I thought it was the most exciting thing to do. To simply close my small absent minded eyes and dream. Until one day, my parents brought home a dog. His name was Ringo. At first I didn’t like him, he always whined, he chewed all our shoes and he didn’t like us being gone for long and when we got home after a day of being out, he always left us a present not very pleasant. But, as time grew on and Ringo grew older he stopped his crazy phase and he often enjoyed lying in his bed with a toy at hand, quietly sleeping. And as the phase glistened away so did my irritation for him. One day, while reading my book on a rainy afternoon, he placed his head in my lap and I placed my hand on his head. I put down my book and stared into his big brown eyes while getting up, I slipped on my shoes and with a click I pit on his leash, opened the door as we went outside together walking side by side.

I now play with Ringo daily and walk him but this time with appreciation. I still read my books but no longer go beyond a simple daydream. I now realize how much time I spent ignoring my dog that I wish I could reverse time and start all over again. It felt like chasing the Lockless monster but secretly knowing it doesn’t exist. But life isn’t always fair, and sometimes there are hopes that you can’t accomplish. So the only thing we can do is carry on, and with us a lesson of which stays with us for a long time. My lesson will change me for the future for I can show my own children or the younger generation that doesn’t mean money, power or fame, it could mean knowing what makes you happy and knowing how to reach your Nirvana.

I believe that sometimes the valuable things in life are standing right in front of us. In the beginning, I have asked you a question. And I want you to ask yourself, is the happiest moment, object or thing in your life simple? If your happiness was extravagant, I want you to smile, knowing that you have had the privilege in life to explore what others may never see. To hold something that others would never know the meaning of. However, if your happiness was simple, it means that you find the most beautiful things in everything around you. You find what’s beneath the surface before you look at the surface. You look at the pages instead of the cover. As you go on today in everyday life I hope my believe leave can have an effect n you. Whether it is the time I toke out of your day to speak to you, whether today you go home and take a break from home work to do something you love. Or to show someone else what they are missing from their lives. It is often today that many forget the importance of small things, and I hope to see a day where everyone has found happiness, because all it takes is something small to grow and bloom into an expedition of a life time.