You know when you have a cold and you regret not being amazed by the fact that you can breathe out of your nose 99% of the time. It’s crazy how much of life is like that- over looked, under valued honest to God gifts.

I think we take too much for granted. I think I take too much for granted.

We all begrudgingly admit that we’ve taken people and larger opportunities for granted, we can see them easily with clear eyes. We tend to see those when they hit us in the face. We hate it when it happens and it makes us try to reorganize our lives so we don’t do it again. We think big picture, and it helps our mental health, to think about everything on a larger scale, to know how important these people and opportunities are to your life.

But even if we are trying to take care and appreciate all our big items, even if we are cherishing our loved ones and trying to take every hand that’s reached down to us, we can still be stuck. We can still feel overwhelmed. We can still feel like we’re on the losing end. Maybe we don’t have that many loved ones, maybe the tasks before us are too big or simply not enough. Things happen and life often falls short of what we want it to be, even if we are trying to appreciate the big things. Even if we’re trying not to take anything for granted, but the fact is, when we’re doing these things we aren’t being overwhelmed with how amazing the little things are.

I’ve talked about the value in everyday memories and this post further branches off of it.

We’re surrounded by everyday miracles. We can stay in touch with people who move across the ocean. We can shower- daily- in hot water. We are surrounded by beautiful things to the degree that we have shops dedicated to filling our homes with them. We don’t guess where our next meal is coming from. We have water even when we don’t have rain. We can get our questions answered at the click of a button. We have phones that can capture memories as they happen so we can go back and enjoy them. We know a level of comfort that we notice even slight discomforts. We can breath through our nose 99% of the time.

It seems silly to think about this stuff daily, because it’s normal. It’s the usual, but it isn’t for everyone, and there was a time were a lot of it wasn’t normal for anyone. So yes, think about your breathing. Think about the fact that you can just go get a milkshake when you want one without having to milk a cow. Think of how great it is just to be alive in this world.

There is a lot of bad in this world, there is a lot of things that fall short, a lot of things that simply aren’t good enough. But there is a lot more good. We have made more progress than you’re thinking about. You have made more progress than you’re giving yourself credit for. So think bigger! Appreciate the little things, the things that seem like small details but are actually huge ones. Take a deep breath and think about the fact that you’re breathing through your nose, and even that is kind of amazing.