Oh, How Exciting it is!

I was walking to my car after a beautiful, mindful movement yoga class last week and I was feeling extra blissful. The sun was hot and bright and all of the flowers and leaves around me were extra colourful because of it. It was glorious!

I then heard a sigh right behind me. One of the other ladies in the class was walking a few feet away and she lamented, “Now to get back to boring, old routine.”

I smiled briefly, debating silently whether I should say what leapt into my heart in that moment. I looked at the vibrant bougainvillea plant perched along the road in all of its glory and I decided that I would.

“You know…” I offered, “I’m learning that a boring, old routine is one of our biggest blessings.”

She smiled as I continued to say the words that I felt so deeply vibrating in my heart. “When big things like sickness or sadness happen in our lives, the first thing that we yearn for is our old routine.”

“Oh, you’re so right!” she replied. And then she smiled with a kind of knowing, like she had remembered something extraordinarily ordinary, yet entirely special to her.

I look around at my life now and I am absolutely convinced that the little things are the big, big things. But this wasn’t always the case. I used to agree that routine was boring, and that our ordinary life was to be trudged through until the weekend, or a big event, or until I could finally go on vacation so that I could unwind. So that I could be at peace.

…So that I could escape.

But living for the “big” things sometimes means that we miss most of the little things along the way.

The little things that make up our routines.
The little things that make up our days.
The little things that make up our life.
The little things that say to us that we are experiencing a moment that will never come again.
The little things that signal to us that we are safe, and that we are loved.
The little things that we prayed for once upon a time, but which, with time, we come to glaze over through the lens of familiarity.

I thought of a dear loved one who is on a journey that she never anticipated. A journey that she never could have imagined. A journey that has transformed her life in one of the biggest ways possible.

She recently wrote the following words in an update:

“And although the road ahead of us is still very long, we can start having glimpses of normal. Glimpses of mundane. Glimpses of basic. And oh, how exciting it is!”

The little things are truly the big things.

The alarm that goes off early in the morning signals to us that a new day has dawned, and that we get to be a part of it.
The morning traffic reminds us that we have places to go, and that we know how to get there.
The mess on the floor tells tales of fun to be had, and the imagination to keep up with it.
The same old things day in and day out provide us with stability, with comfort and with peace.

It’s wonderful to have big things to look forward to, but we must always be careful that we don’t sacrifice the ‘now’ for the ‘when’.

Most of our life is lived in these little ‘in between’ moments- the daily, ordinary, mundane moments sandwiched between big, exciting things.

But, what if we saw our old, familiar routine through fresh eyes – eyes that are intent on seeking and finding the joy hidden in the middle of it all.

The caress of the gentle breeze.
The warmth of the cup in your hand.
The comfort of your favourite shirt.
The safety of familiar smiles.
The brilliant bougainvillea along the road as you ponder the musings of your heart.

There’s so much to experience if we would only look. If we would only notice. If we would only come alive to the life that is happening all around us.

What if we believed that the little things are the big things.
What if we decided to fully lean into experiencing them all as if for the first time.
What if we viewed the old, familiar routine that makes up the majority of our life as one of our biggest blessings.

And what if we truly believed, “Oh, how exciting it is!”