The little things

We tend to look forward to the big things in life--the day we graduate high school, going to college, getting married--the things we dream up in our heads over and over again, imagining what it'll be like. Every minute detail we concoct in our brains with absolute perfection. Those long-awaited events one day really do come, just as we thought they would. They are exciting--sometimes with even as much perfection as we imagined. But they whiz past us in a fleeting moment. It's often in those "big" moments when I feel like I'm dreaming, having an out-of-body experience. I feel I should be captivated by this grandiose, overwhelming feeling; but instead, it all just seems natural and less novel than I imagined it would be. They come and go, and we're left with just a faint impression of an all-too-fleeting day.

On the contrary, it's those little things that we forget to dream about--and more importantly, often forget to even take notice of, that urge us to fulfillment. A life made up of a few spectacular days, doesn't create the sweet peace that comes from a life full of the simple, daily things we take advantage of. Today Derek and I happened to have our lunch breaks at the same time and got to talk in the middle of the day--something that almost never happens. Something so minuscule, but it completely made my day. It's those little things that make the journey an incredible ride. A ride where I want to soak up every tiny detail and keep it forever. Things like how he tells me I'm beautiful every single day, regardless of how I think I look. The freckles on his upper arms. The fact that he's always winking at me. How cute he is when he says things in his Canadian way. How he'll sing to me when I ask him to. The scar on his forehead. All the little things that make him Derek. I wouldn't trade all the little things for a perfect wedding, an exhilarating graduation, or tons of big, exciting events we endlessly dream up. I just want to keep living each day and realize how lucky I am to have these constant things that keep life full of joy and love.