Appreciate Your Life: It Will Make You Smile

This spoon, with its tiny hearts, reminds me of those I love: my family.

Drinking my coffee this morning, I realized how much I love my silver coffee scoop, my modern black and white coffee mug, and my comfortable chair.  

Why do these details matter so much to me?  Well, they don't.  Not really.  If one of my sons borrowed and accidentally broke my coffee mug, it wouldn't really matter much to me.  The same goes for my coffee scoop and chair.  These things are replaceable, my family and friends are not.  Family and friends are the most important things to me, bar none. 

I love the design on my coffee mug.

However, I do appreciate these things for what they are:  uplifting little touches that make me smile as I make my way through the busy day.  

As a perfumer's wife, I learnt early on to appreciate the beauty in everything with regards to my husband's perfumes.  He takes months, sometimes years, creating them.  Not only the juice (fragrance) notes have to be perfect; but everything that surrounds the scent has to match the perfume's beauty.  The smooth, curvaceous feel of the bottle in your hand; the whispering soft sensation of the fine mist on your skin (it can't come out in huge droplets or a loud, stunning spray); and the sparkling flecks of real silver or gold-coloured writing on the box.

In time, I learnt to apply this appreciation to all that surrounds me in my life.  Even those little, seemingly inconsequential things.  If I notice them and am thankful for them, I allow myself those little uplifting boosts throughout the day.  If I don't notice them, I never take the time to realize how lucky I am.

My comfortable chair.

Everyday there is beauty that surrounds us all.  You may not have a silver coffee scoop (I bought it for $5 at a garage sale), a coffee mug that looks beautiful ($5 at a department store), or a leather chair to sink into (admittedly, it was more than $5); but guaranteed, if you look around you, you will see what makes you feel good in your life. 

Taking the time to appreciate them may just make you smile too.