How to deeply appreciate the simple things in life

You do things to get through the day, check the boxes and complete the tasks.

And then one day, it hits you and you’re sick and tired of the routine and you feel like a mindless mess that’s running on autopilot.

You’ve drained your battery and you don’t know where your charger went. You don’t even have the energy to go find it.

Things need to get done, especially when you have kids and you’re running a household. It’s a tight ship that needs its Captain to steer. There is little time to dwell, to stop and reflect, to take a break.

I get this. I’m a mother of 2. I work full-time and I barely have 2 minutes to pause and smell the roses, to appreciate the simple things.

Yes, I know it’s the little things that we should savour, not take for granted so that we can experience true joy.

But how can we appreciate those simple things when it’s the big things we worry about?

So today, I want to share with you a moment when I discovered what lies beneath a task that mindlessly got completed every other day and how it has affected my mindset for appreciating the simple things in life. 

I fully and deeply appreciate the sound of my dishwasher. When it runs, I find the sound so gratifying. It’s like my soul is getting cleansed, not just the dishes, bottles, chopsticks, spoons and congee crusted bowls.

It takes me on a journey, an adventure that reminds me of all the things that I have done to the point where my husband presses the ‘start’ button.

I’m economical. I love deals. I’m thrifty and resourceful. I love buying things on sale, specifically groceries. Just the other day, yams were ridiculously cheap, so we bought 10 pounds of it. I went home and excitedly washed them, cut them up and froze them.

What a fantastic way to add some nutritious vitamin A and fibre to our family’s diet eh?

Throw it in with some roasted chicken, soups, stews, or just bake them with some salt and pepper. Drool…

Okay so I digress but I hope that little meander into foodie land demonstrates my love for food.

So at the start of every week, I scour the flyers, finding deals, sales and discounts. I add those things to my list and then once I’ve compiled everything that I need, I’m off to the grocery store.

Cue Bilbo Baggins, “I’m going on an adventure.”

At the store, I start my mission, strategically pushing my cart through to store as efficiently as possible. I’ve planned my route for each store. Veggies and fruit, then bread, then meat, then dairy/eggs. It’s like a freaking video game for me. Only the items that are on sale make the cut in my cart. And I feel good about my purchases because produce that typically on sale are also in season.

I come home with everything and it’s time to restock the pantry, fridge and deep freezer. Then it’s time to meal plan, using the ingredients that I just got. I get to be creative. Sometimes, it’s eggplant and sometimes it’s cucumber. Sometimes, it’s heads of different types of cabbage.

The cooking process is therapeutic, from chopping, slicing, dicing to steaming, stir-frying, baking. Then we consume that meal as a family and watching them devour my creations is one of the best moments. I’m usually starving by then (as mentioned before, I practice fasting) and the experience of eating is so rewarding, appreciating where the ingredients came from and how they were put together.

Then comes my favourite part. My husband clears the table and fills the dishwasher. And if it’s full, he presses the ‘start’ button.

That swishing, swooshing sound brings joy to my ears, reminding me of every step that I’ve taken to get here. I’m feeding my family. They’re getting nourishment. Their bodies are thriving from the food that I put on the table, the effort from the flyer scavenger hunt to this moment of full bellies and satisfied loved ones trigger the cycle to start all over again.

And that sound, although simple, is only the tip of the iceberg, an entire ocean’s depth of steps and acts of love that is required to arrive at this moment.

So I challenge you to take a moment to think of something simple that occurs regularly in your household. Then, dive deep into the process of how you get there.

From laundry, brushing your teeth to boiling water for a cup of tea, there are steps that are needed prior to creating those moments.

And when you truly practice gratitude and appreciate how you’re able to do those things, that’s when the small things become the big things. 

So Readers, what’s something that happens in your daily life that is simple but underneath requires so much more?