I came across this quote by Pema Chodron recently, and it really resonated with me.
Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior's world.
- from The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
I love how she uses the word allow. We can allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, or we can ignore it. We might not even see it! Gratitude is a choice. In my own life, I feel so much happier when I take the time to be grateful. Of course, the first things that pop in to my mind are the big ones: an amazing husband, a wonderful family, a body that walks, that senses, that breathes. So lucky!
But counting the little things, the everyday good fortunes, can change the way the world looks. The feeling of a mug of warm tea in your hands, the grains of sand embracing your toes at the beach at dusk, a stranger holding open a door, waiting only one minute for the metro on a busy morning. So much of life is comprised of small everyday moments. The movie Amélie so perfectly expressed this - the pleasure of plunging a hand into a bag of grain, cracking the crust of a crème brulée, skipping stones... I am trying my best to notice these moments in my own life, and allow them to inspire me.
