20 July 2010

Life Is Made Up Of The Little Things

"Everyone is trying to accomplish something big,
not realizing that life is made up of little things."
- Frank A. Clark

I think it is so easy to let much of our life slip by, unnoticed and unappreciated, because we are on the look out for the big things that we think should constitute our happiness, our success, our getting there.

Childhood tales of Prince Charming or the big bad wolf teach us that momentous things are out there waiting to be part of our story and they may be, and that is good, as long as we don't forget to enjoy the small things too.

We are urged by the motivators, to do something, be something, strive for our goals, never give up, keep on keeping on. Because then - we can become great, we can be successful, we can live the life of our dreams . . .

We seem to be instilled with the seed idea that what we are is not enough, we need to be, do, achieve more. Our everyday life is not enough, it is 'ordinary' - but when we achieve our goals whatever they are. . . then all will be well.

The downside of all of this, is that people are judging themselves and their lives on some idea of what should be. When they could be enjoying the incredible beauty that already is.

"To live only for some future goal is shallow.
It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life,
not the top."
- Robert M. Pirsig


Right here, right now, you are wonderful, you are 'enough', there is nowhere you must get to, nothing you must achieve, nothing to do but relax and realise that it truly is the little things that make up our life. If we get into the habit of looking for them, there are small miracles everywhere but we need to slow down enough to notice them.

We can take a deep breath, relax into our life and stroll through it enjoying the scenery, feeling the sun and rain on our skin, taking the time to interact with the minutes that make up our days.

"If you cannot find happiness along the road,
You will not find it at the end of the road." - Unknown


If we are too busy and too future focused we miss the wonderful moments like this one that Jennifer blogged about recently. Little moments of magic. . . the world is full of them.

Image - Susannah Bec

10 comments:

Suz said...

The sacred in the ordinary
oh yes
moments
catch them live them
they are your life indeed
This was a wonderful bit of writing Susannah and thank you for referring me to Jennifer's post...loved her story.
I would love for you to write stories...I know they wait
so happy you knocked on my door this morning

Susannah said...

Hi Suz, thank you. :-)

I am glad you enjoyed Jennifers post, wasn't it wonderful!

tamara said...

I have nothing to add--just wanted to say thanks for the reminder ;) Especially love the final quote.

Susannah said...

Hey Tamara - I don't think you need the reminder, you are always great at noticing the little things (and taking pictures of them and putting them on your blog).

Good to see you. :-)

Barbara Scully said...

Hi Susannah.... good to be back here and your posts usually bring me right back to what is important and remind me to let go of the junk in my head! And you have done it again. thanks. Great post

Susannah said...

Hi Barbara, it is always good to see you here, thanks for dropping in. :-)

Jennifet said...

Aw gee thanks for the shout out Susannah. And I don't have to tell you I'm with you 100% on this one. I guess that's why we're bloggy friends!

Susannah said...

Your welcome Jennifer.

I love the fact that you notice the little things and never miss the magical moments! ...and better still you tell us about them.

Very glad to be your bloggy friend. :-)

Colleen Loehr said...

Ahhhh...I feel myself slowing down in this very moment from reading this powerful post Susannah...The fetish with some grandiose future accomplishment is drilled into all of us in the modern world and socially sanctioned and idealized. And yet it is the source of tremendous suffering. The "grass is greener" and "the future is better" is an optical delusion of consciousness that makes us blind (or severely vision impaired) to present beauty.

Your post is part of a turning of the tide of awareness from grandiose notions of being important some day, some way, to instead a humble real life lived fully today. Thank you from my heart!

Susannah said...

Hello Colleen, you put it so well!

"The fetish with some grandiose future accomplishment is drilled into all of us in the modern world and socially sanctioned and idealized. And yet it is the source of tremendous suffering. The "grass is greener" and "the future is better" is an optical delusion of consciousness that makes us blind (or severely vision impaired) to present beauty.

Your post is part of a turning of the tide of awareness from grandiose notions of being important some day, some way, to instead a humble real life lived fully today."

Wow! that is it in a nutshell - nice writing Colleen. Thank you.

Good to see you here. x

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