You may have been told before to appreciate the little things in life. Whenever I hear this, I think of moments such as watching an elderly couple hold hands or hearing children laugh as they play together in a schoolyard. The other day, I decided to appreciate and think a little deeper about things I always take for granted. This was a fun exercise to do — here’s what I’ve realized!
You can watch movies in the sky
Think about it: When you’re in an airplane and there are movies available to rent or you’ve downloaded a few episodes of a show on Netflix to watch, you are literally sitting in a chair, casually watching a film while being 38,000 feet in the air and moving 575 miles per hour. That’s epic. Fifty years ago, this was an impossible phenomenon, and in another 50 years, who knows what incredible additions are in store for us.
Internet
If you’ve ever stopped to think about how fast the internet is and how quickly you can access information, it’s mind-boggling. Knowledge from around the world is literally at your fingertips. You can send someone a message they will get automatically no matter where they are located. With e-commerce becoming more popular and many families starting to go grocery shopping online, the internet offers endless possibilities. Now, you don’t even have to use your fingertips — with simply your voice, Siri will tell you what you’re looking for.
I’m not a big online shopper, but every once in a while, I resort to the internet to help me out when I’ve forgotten someone’s birthday or have an upcoming event where something niche is necessary. Sometimes, if I order an item early enough in the day, it shows up that same day to my door — how amazing is that? I know that operations systems have become more and more organized and efficient over the years, but receiving something the same day is still ridiculously cool.
Plant propagation
I’ve recently just started doing plant propagation with a few of the plants in my bedroom, and it’s one of the most rewarding experiences. By simply cutting off a leaf and sticking it in water for a few days (note, there are lots of different ways to do this), the stem starts to create its own roots in the water that you can transfer to a pot with soil. Voilà! You’ve just created a plant. When you first try it yourself, it’s very exciting to know that you’ve created something that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.
You may think this list is silly and that these things are obvious, but it’s so fun to think about how many inventions and technologies we have created over the years that allow us to have experiences people 50 years, let alone 100 years, ago would have thought were impossible. Of course, no one says, “Last Friday, I watched a movie in the sky!,” but it’s exciting to think that is what technically happened. This year, I am practicing being grateful for everything around me, including the experiences I’ve taken for granted in the past. It’s important to always stay looking for the mysteries and excitement in life. Here at the Clog, we hope you join us in finding ways to be appreciative for what’s around us, even the little things.
