Life’s little reminders

A busy, stressful day at work. Waking up with a headache. The Metro is 100 degrees. An annoying friend/coworker/tourist.

These are just a few of the things that can make us go from feeling content, happy, or satisfied to pissed off, irritated, and looking forward to the moment we can collapse into bed and sleep it all away. Some days, we let the little things get to us more than they should. I know I have sweat the small stuff more than once, and of course when you look back on most of these things the next day, or even 20 minutes later, they seem so lame, almost laughable. “I got mad over that?” you might ask yourself.

So tonight, I’m sitting here drinking tea out of my Wizard of Oz mug, watching Iron Chef America, and perusing my favorite websites, and chuckling over more than a few things I read. It seems so simple. Laughter. Joy over such small things, small sayings, small images. It’s like in session one of the writing class my department at work began this week – we were all discussing how the introduction to The Elements of Style by E.B. White was shockingly full of humor, without banging you over the head with it. (Sidenote: the illustrated version is fabulous.) More importantly, this is an introduction to a grammar book; a book that points out the simplest language rules and reminders  – ways to make your writing tell – without having to be fancy.

With that in mind, I wanted to share a few things in my life that are simple, that are humorous, that are telling about life as I know it, without banging me over the head:

• Having dinner with former coworkers every couple of months
• Reading the blog of one of my favorite Twitterers: the author is genuine, humble, and refreshingly honest – and we’ve never met
• Talking to my parents online and them calling me “kiddo” or “squirt” even though I’m about to turn 25
• Relishing a comforting routine: post-work workout, making myself dinner, drinking tea and reading/relaxing
• Cooking one of my favorite dishes for a friend’s birthday dinner
• Giddily adding more items to my Amazon wish list despite having multiple books yet to read in my apartment
• Coming home and feeling like I accomplished something at work
• Pardon the Interruption on ESPN
• Planning Thanksgiving dinner with my parents
• Lunch with a coworker I work closely with, but don’t usually hang out with

I could go on and on. Sometimes it’s nice to remind ourselves of the little things that happen in our daily lives that make us happy, content, and satisfied, so that the little things that piss us off are a distant memory, or never get so far as to piss us off in the first place.

The bottom line is that it’s a choice: you have the power to decide which little things affect you – and how.