By OSAM SAKAMOTO
Columnist
“Look! I found a penny!” I wonder how many of us would actually be happy if we see a cent on the ground and pick it up as if nobody is watching. Hmm, let me guess. Probably would few of us. (I imagined some raised their hands though!) Happiness acquired from picking up a lost penny on a busy street might not be a very significant thing to be counted as a plus in life. Maybe this example is just too much drama. How many of us would count on pennies anyway? Whoop! There goes the cricket sound. To get to a point, picking up a penny is just a metaphor to finding a little happiness.
There is a saying I like and want to share, and that is “Enjoy the little things.” I do believe these are words of wisdom that should not be missed out on. Agree or disagree, we eventually hit the worst of the worst and have to clutch in to slow down a bit during our adventures at its best, which is unfortunately how things work out sometimes.
True quality of life depends on how we respond to all these situations; do we admit it and move on or do we get staggered by it and get haunted for days? My pattern every now and then follows the latter track, blaming on my bad luck and ignoring what I could do instead to turn it around. Taboo. Yet the thing is, it is a devil of a job to forget about what had let motivations down.
How about we start counting what positively happened if we were not able to let go of something? I have a perfect story regarding that. Rewinding to weeks ago, I had a miserable day for failing my nursing program entrance exam. It hit me like a rock, without exaggeration, but I had my buddies who were there for me as a shoulder to lean on. It sure was nice to have such friends and that I have them by my side.
Taking a glimpse of what we do have might be also one quickest tricks to discover goodness around us. Those are god’s love and secret gifts. For instance, we have clothing to keep us warm, appear appropriate in public or even disappear from people’s sight, speaking to a manly color camouflage. Likewise, most of us have a vehicle to commute. Some may acknowledge that “This iron thing is a piece of ol junk.” Yet it can still take passengers for a ride without cursing on drivers for a Monday morning trip.
An empty fridge is the worst, and the stomach, after several hops towards it with bouncing excitement to see if there are any yummy food left, but only turning out that there is nothing hid in there. The sight of a fridge with its door wide opened to show emptiness may let us imagine what a fear of impending doom is like. But hey now, we at least have a fridge to keep foods and drinks fresh and cold. If we do have food in a fridge, that is another extra little thing to be enjoyed because there are a myriad of people out there, suffering from starvation at this moment.
Moreover, being a college student cannot be an easy task and is frequently stressful as there is a solid hundred percent chance of showers consist of homework assignments, pennilessness, projects, sleeplessness, and tests that overwhelm students. Yet, we as college students are able to learn new things and build a path to the future while some do not go to college for financial difficulties.
That being said, happiness might have been all about the state of a mind set. If so, this moment could be a right time to change a view towards little things in a positive way. Let’s see things positively from today, shall we?