Hmm… well I have one that I experienced the other day! It has since made me try to enjoy the simple and little things more!
What happened was:
I was on my way to work one day. My work is located very close to my apartment. It takes me approximately 3–4 minutes, from I'm out of my door till I'm at work. And OBVIOUSLY this means, that I'm always leaving my place too late! It's the curse of living too close, you instinctively think “I don't have to get ready till the last second”. So I'm always in a bit of a hurry when I leave. Walking fast and sometimes running a little - basically in a hurry!
Anyway. Right out in front of my building, there's a fountain/piece of art. It's one of many in the big city I live in. One of those that'll blend in with the city, when you walk by it everyday. That day, two ducks had decided to chill a bit in the water next to the fountain. Not that I noticed. But what I did notice was an old lady walking towards me. She was the posterchild for sweet old ladies! I bet that she had some butterscotch candies in her purse - And she wore a big coat like all old ladies do, even though the weather was nice. She had her purse and umprella in her hands. I walked past her, just next to the fountain.
Okay, here comes what made this incident something that truly inspires me!
This lady, noticed the ducks just as she was next to them.
She stopped instantly as she saw them. Looked down to her right. Held her purse and umprella in front of her, as you would when you're standing still and relaxing your body.
She only stood there for around 3 seconds. Looking at these ducks. Ducks. Something she had probably seen thousands of times in her life! Something that seem so trivial to most of us. And for sure not something that would made us stop.
After she had soaked in the sight of the ducks, for a mere 3 seconds, she proceeded her walk. That's it.
If that's not a reminder, that we should appreciate the little things, I don't know what is?
This old lady stopped to look at something, she might as well could've seen while walking. She took out 3 seconds of her day (and that's precious time to someone that old!) to make the effort of stopping, resting, and starting to walk again.
For some reason this made such a huge impact on me! I've since stopped midwalk several times, just to look at something and really soak it. It always makes me smile, and makes me feel better. 3 seconds a day to look at ducks. You're never in such a hurry that you can't stop for 3 seconds :)
Have an amazing day.
-SB
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