This One Habit Brings Happiness and Makes Your Moments Matter

There are some experiences in life that hit you like a freight train. They’re so big, so magnificent, so impactful that you can hardly help but to feel humbled and awed by them.

The birth of your child, falling in love, graduation, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or being on an African safari.

These experiences leave you wide-eyed and breathless, if only for a few moments.

Then there are the smaller moments…The way the sun shines through the clouds and bounces off the trees. The sounds of friends and family chatting in the local café. Your child laying on your lap or chest. The intoxicating rhythm of your favorite song.

While they’re easily looked over and often forgotten, every one of these moments has the potential to stop you in your tracks and leave you filled with awe, joy and wonder. The trick lies within your attention.

‍The big experiences of life command your full attention, and that’s what makes them great. That’s what makes them meaningful. However, your everyday-to-day activities and experiences can be filled with meaning simply by giving them your attention.

In 2008, when I enrolled for the Neuro Linguistic Program Coaching course, our first week’s homework was using our senses fully and becoming attentive to our surroundings. This included walking outside, smelling the flowers, staring at the sky, watching cars and drivers or even pedestrians. Sounds silly, but taking in the small moments was enjoyable because my focus was based on being attentive instead of mind chatter.

You can consciously create a meaningful moment for yourself and others by intentionally bringing the full weight of your awareness to it. Activate your senses. Choose to be present, and suddenly you’ll find that the smallest of moments holds the magnitude of the entire universe…and you get to enjoy every bit of it.

This happiness isn’t dependent on having the right job, finding the right partner, buying the right car, or finally retiring from “the grind.” It’s here for you, now, quietly calling to you from the soft edges of your awareness.

All you have to do is listen, and the least becomes the greatest.

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