Little things of life

On a typical rainy evening, I was heading to a friend’s place when something caught my eye,... a group of kids gleefully dumping the contents of their lunch boxes into the public dustbin outside their school. I couldn’t help but laugh. I used to do the same thing with my brother, throwing away our lunches and sealing the deal with a pinky promise that we wouldn’t rat each other out. Obviously, that deal didn’t last long, as we both tattled on each other during an argument to be on our parents’ good books. Not once did I know back then that this would be a nostalgic memory that would sneak up on me on a random Tuesday evening and bring a smile to my face.

As I watched those kids, I felt a little pang inside, a reminder of how we leave pieces of ourselves behind as we grow up. How often do we get so caught up in life, our careers, goals, and to-do lists, that we forget to notice the tiny moments that once made us happy? The past week, I was hit with a series of little things that are not so little for the kids right now. Like a kid being carried upon her dad’s shoulders, a girl who's riding her bicycle while her grandma stands at the starting point to feed her a spoon for 1 lap of cycling around the park, a kid begging and succeeding in getting a KinderJoy, a pre-schooler crying to go home and just be with her mom, friends bursting crackers stopping just long enough to let me cross the road before lighting the cracker and running the opposite direction with adrenaline and excitement filled in their eyes. Looking at them, I missed myself, I missed the version of me that subsided as I grew up. It left me wishing that I had more time with that version of myself.

You know the one whose only worry was that she didn't cut her nails or actually complete her homework but forgot the notebook at home because she knows no one would believe that excuse. The version where adults and their financial independence made me want to become one soon so that I could buy myself an ice cream or a fancy pen that my classmate brought to school that day.

Right now as I look at the reflection in my mirror, all I see is someone who's trying to stay consistently running in the race of life where even though she has the money to buy that ice cream or that fancy pen, she doesn't have time to enjoy it. 

Somehow, those little things that once felt so big have faded and shrunk into the background of this fast-paced life. But occasionally, a random moment or stranger reminds me to stop and appreciate them again. Maybe it’s time we let ourselves pause, even for just a few minutes, to savor those small joys instead of rushing past them. Because in the end, it’s these little things that color our lives and fill our memories. So, the next time a moment makes you smile, take it in fully. Let it linger. You never know how it might come back to warm your heart years down the road.