We so often think of life as the accumulation of major events. In my own life there are several points that stand out as moments of momentous significance. The turning of age sixteen so I could get my driver’s license; my graduation from high school; returning stateside from a year’s tour of duty abroad; honorable discharge from Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children (the Marines); marriage; the birth of my children. Well, you get the idea.
The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions ... .
Yet, while these momentous occasions mark seriously significant events in our lives that should be celebrated, they form only a minute fraction of it. The overwhelming lion’s share of our lives are comprised of small, seemingly (at the time) insignificant events. Let me share a quote by the 18th century English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, that my wife came across as we were browsing through a book store some weeks ago.
“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions – the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of pleasurable and genial feeling.”
I am more and more firmly convinced every day that it is the mindfulness of the little things of life that can make the greatest difference in our overall sense of fulfillment and wellbeing. This is both the noticing of little things that come our way from others and the little things that we make a deliberate choice to do for others.
Make the most of the “minute fractions” that, cumulatively, will have the greatest impact on your life.
Think about it.
Peace.
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