Sometimes you need to take a moment to recognize the small things that brighten up your day.  As much as I try to be mindful and take note of things that are happening in my life, particularly the good ones, but sometimes you get so wrapped up in the minutiae of the day that you overlook it.

Over the past two days, I’ve noted two instances that have been happy moments.  The first was upon getting home yesterday.  I had a rough day generally speaking at work.  It started off on the wrong foot following a near-sleepless night.  After getting a couple of restless hours of sleep in, I was awake from 2AM-4AM.  I finally managed to get back to sleep shortly after 4AM, but my 5:15 alarm was not a welcome visitor.

Despite this, I got on with my day, which included a 40-minute walk to work as my wife is working in Fredericton this week.  It didn’t help that it was a misty morning.  Not full-on rain, just heavy misting; enough to be annoying and make me damp.  This was followed by a challenging day in the office (for a variety of reasons that I won’t bother to enumerate), and finally another 40-minute walk home (where it rained off and on).

Needless to say, I was not super happy cheerful Chris upon my arrival.  But then a happy synchronicity changed my spirits.  Upon nearing the house, I could see that there was something in the mailbox.  Though I had just ordered something from Amazon the day prior, I knew it wouldn’t be here already, so I was intrigued.  It turned out to be my certificate of completion for an online self-development course (Reset with François Lemay) I had taken earlier this year – a gentle reminder of my mindfulness practices.  It made me put my day into perspective and ensured that my night ended on a happy note rather than continuing to wallow in the pit of despair that I was gradually digging myself into.

Today, I had another happy moment.  While having a monthly 1-on-1 meeting with one of my employees, she mentioned that she and her husband were starting to plan a trip to Disney World for the family in February.  This got us talking about Disney, and then I acted as an inadvertent travel agent.  I checked out some prices and helped her get an idea as to costs of staying on resort at Disney World as they were planning on staying off-site because of the price.  I explained to her that there were some promotions on-going for the time of year she was going and that the hotels would likely be as expensive off-site as on-site.  Lo and behold, the price I gave her for 3 nights at Pop Century was in the same range she was being given for non-Disney hotels.  This little sidebar conversation gave me a happy boost of spirit, and put a smile on my face as well as my employee’s.

The lesson I took from this:  take time to take a step back and be grateful for all that you have.  Even a quick 2-minute conversation about something you love can be enough to shift your focus and your spirit in the opposite direction.  Find your small happy moments.

Do you take the time to note all of the happy moments that pop up in your life?  What do you do that puts a smile on your face?  Or someone else’s face?