Attention to Small Things
“Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the everyday things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.”
Booker T. Washington
Our life happens everyday and its essence is found in the experiences, activities, and interactions we actually engage in daily. However, we often get so used to what we see as routine, that we forget to appreciate their wonder. It is common to become used to the people, things, and activities that we once found amazing, and soon take them for granted. They eventually lose their luster and our attention looks elsewhere for satisfaction.
If we take time to reflect upon the things that we have or do that seem common, we find we are the beneficiaries of truly incredible lives. There is nothing mundane about our creativity, our loving friendships, electricity, the written word, sun on our faces, riding a bike, helping others, or improving ourselves. Our daily lives are filled with wonder, arising from an incomprehensible number of factors that come together in just the right way for us to participate in it. One of the great measures of success in life is the ability to consciously engage in, and appreciate it.
If our attention is constantly directed away from our daily experiences, focusing on the next rare, big, or major event, we will miss most of our lives. In doing so, we miss the opportunity to bring meaning, purpose, and appreciation into our day. Lasting satisfaction is rarely found by getting what we want, it is found in appreciating what we have.
I invite you to direct your attention to the life you have, and the things and people you take for granted daily. See if you can notice their wonder and appreciate them. How can your interactions with them become more meaningful? – John Bruna, February 9, 2017.
The above is a an excerpt from one the daily emails sent to the members of the Mindful Life Community. I invite you to explore our community and consider joining.
