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“The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

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I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude and appreciation lately.

Well, I’ve been feeling a lot of gratitude and appreciation lately—with big things and small things.

Even if my mind goes into a “worry about the uncertainty of the future” type of thought train, I’m finding myself easily coming back to the present, to this moment, to all of the blessings and beauty and wonderful things I have right now. I really am so blessed to be able to experience so much of what I’m experiencing.

Yes, there are some painful or uncomfortable parts of life, but there are also a lot of wonderful things.

It’s easy for most of us to get caught up in the negative, for us to worry about the future or about what’s going on around us. Our minds have a negativity bias, so it’s literally easier for us to focus on and notice the negative rather than the positive.

But we can train ourselves to look for the positive, for the beauty, for the things we appreciate.

We can appreciate so many of the “little things” we experience each day.

We don’t have to have everything in our life going exactly as we’d like in order to feel deep appreciation, contentment, and gratitude for where we are and for what we have.

Life can be all of it. We can have some discomfort or uncertainty and also be deeply grateful for what we have right now, in this moment. We can also be deeply appreciative for what we have in this moment while holding dreams and visions for what we’d like to have and where we’d like to go in the future.

Appreciating the little things in life can be so powerful—because our days and lives are filled with them.

Here’s a list of 21 little things we can appreciate each day. There are so many other things we could add to this list. Think about what you appreciate. Think about what you feel grateful for. Think about what you’d have on a list like this.

This is just an idea of what kinds of “little” things we can appreciate each day.

Here are 21 little things we can appreciate each day:

1. A good cup of coffee in the morning

2. Dog cuddles

3. Sunshine

4. Waking up feeling well-rested

5. A good nap

6. Receiving signs from the Universe

7. Feeling fully relaxed

8. Fresh air

9. Spending quality time with loved ones

10. Reading a good book

11. Doing something just for us, something we need in the moment

12. Hearing the birds chirp

13. Accomplishing something we’ve been wanting or needing to do

14. A refreshing glass of water

15. Meditation time

16. Sunshine

17. Feeling totally present, in the moment

18. Eating a good meal or snack

19. Having our cat rub up against our leg when he usually runs away from us

20. A beautiful walk in nature

21. Taking steps toward our dreams

What are some little things you appreciate each day?

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