Just Awesome

Life has many challenges. Covid-19 made sure of that. My wedding was supposed to take place in September, but we decided to post-pone our day when we can do it right and have the wedding we deserve with all the people that are important in our lives.

Recently, I was on one of my book adventures and I came across a book titled "The Book of Awesome". I was expecting to read about a guy and how awesome his life is, but instead I found a book that made me smile before I put it down. It made me smile because it pointed out the little things in life that make our lives worth living. I used to have a job that was very unfulfilling, I would be sitting there and I felt completely useless. I felt useless because I was not helping anyone, I did not do a whole lot, I barely talked to anyone during my day at work.

This is where I compiled a list of the little things that made me happy. the number 1 thing on the list I wrote down was that I drove my mom's car to work. It makes me happy because it makes me happy knowing that my mom drove this car before me and it always reminds me of her before I take off. I never lost my mom or anything like that, but it reminds me of her resilience. I drive a Volvo from 1994, so it has kinks in it but it still works and I love how the seats in the car are not leather, but it is cloth and it comforts me. Now, that we are on the subject of driving. I love driving in the dark. I like to drive during that time of night where everything is at a standstill and all I can see are the street lights and the dry pavement in front of me. I like knowing that I don't have to stress about changing lanes when I have to, the lanes are there and they are waiting for me to drive on them. I don't have to panic because I have all the time in the world. Another good thing about driving is when all those lights are green and you are in the one lane and you just keep going. I live in a big city, so you can understand how nice it is to hit every green light and be home ten minutes earlier than expected. There are of course other things in life that satisfy me.

There is something satisfying about stepping out of the hot shower and you wrap yourself up in your bathrobe, then as if all at once you smell something amazing, and that smell does not come from your kitchen or your bathroom, but that smell is coming from outside and it is the smell and the sound of rain. You hear it tip tapping on your window as you brush your wet hair with your comb. and the smell of fresh grass reaches your lungs and you feel so relaxed and calm it almost scares you that you might be dead.

This next one, some might find annoying, but I have always found it comforting. When I am falling asleep and all I can hear is the ticking of a clock, this is a very specific tick, it is not the tick that goes fast, it is a heavy and confident tick and it is telling you, that you have all the time in the world to sleep. It announces itself in a way that makes me feel like I have a lot of time in my life and I can achieve anything. It reminds me of my childhood somehow maybe because the cabin the mountains had this radio station that my uncle would turn on and it was a ticking clock and an announcer in a monotone voice would tell you what time it was. It sounds annoying, but there was something happy about falling asleep to that odd radio station.

Summer is a great time to be alive, the bees are bussing the birds are chirping and the sun is out making people happy with the vitamin D. However, one of the best feelings was when I was attending school and I rode my bike. I would hop on in the early morning with my backpack filled with textbooks and I would take off and ride my bike through the park. I would enjoy watching the sunrise and even though I was biking to school rather than taking a bus I felt like I had so much time. I would be peddling away and I would see many other workers either walking to work or biking. Seeing other people do the same activity as me it brought me a rush of happiness knowing that I was doing something healthy for my body and seeing others do that same thing. I would get to school and I would get there faster than if I took the bus and that made me feel accomplished before heading to my 8 a.m class.

Dear reader, what makes you happy? What little things in life make you happy? Forget about the bad for a second and remember what makes you happy. Write a list and see if you smile at the end of it.