Being Grateful for the Small Stuff

As I finish the fourth week of my social distancing, teaching from home, I realize that we are all guilty of not appreciating the small stuff in our lives. I hope that when this is all behind us we relish every moment that we get to spend with our families and friends in the real world. Yes, it has been wonderful spending time in my home, which I love, but I feel as if I am missing even the trivial parts of my everyday life.

For example, just going to work and having lunch with some friends, or seeing you friends at lunch will seem less trivial to us. We may no longer dread Sunday nights and actually look forward to our traditional work week. Or will we? Will we become so accustomed to this “new normal” that we will not know how to return to our everyday normalcy? I don’t know the answer but I would hope to find out soon. Soon I hope we will be in our carpools, at our jobs,at our gyms, at family gatherings, at restaurants, and the list goes on.

So let’s take this time to organize our homes, our lives and ourselves so that when we can go back to our normal life we will embrace it with caution and extreme satisfaction. I believe it will have to happen slowly but I know everyone will take precautions when we go back as we recall what these times have really been like.

Not seeing our families, our friends, our grandchildren, our colleagues and so on has made us more appreciative of the small stuff. I remember reading that book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” and thinking yes this is right. Now we understand that the small stuff can be so gratifying and yes, we do miss it. Enjoy that cup of coffee in the morning. Relax as you take your online yoga class. Meet your friends and colleagues on Zoom. This will continue for a bit longer so get the most out of it. Tell people you love and miss them. And hopefully soon we will all be together again…. hopefully at barbecues, pools, beaches, parties, restaurants or just hanging out with our friends…. something that we miss so much.

So please stay safe and follow the social distancing rules so that we can return to normal life. If we all follow protocol it will happen sooner. Then we can get our jobs back, our economy back and our lives back to our normal which will never be the same. It will be a normal that we will appreciate every single day!!!!!!