living life for the little things

I've been trying out a new state of mind lately.

In honesty, it's probably not all that new to me

as I tend to be Little Miss Look-On-The-Positive-Side most of the time.

But I've been trying to recapture a bit of what children have;

a bit of that wonder at the world,

embracing opportunities without fear

and living my life for the little things.

I guess it's sort of natural

when you spend all day everyday with a toddler,

watching them marvel and enjoy the slightest things,

that some of the wonder rubs off.

So much of what my son experiences

he is seeing or hearing or smelling or touching or tasting

for the very first time.

How incredible is that?

But the thing with firsts is once they are done

you can never get them back.

Once you've tasted a strawberry for the first time,

that's it,

you may taste other strawberries,

you may taste better strawberries,

but never that first one again.

And when you start thinking about life like that

it's really easy to change your perspective on things

and have a 'live life for the little things' attitude.

Because yes there will always be tomorrow to go to the park

but why waste today.

And there probably are chores to do on a Sunday morning

but wouldn't it be so much nicer to go for a walk together first.

We started out the year with a weekly mission to make memories,

and with the exception a few sickness ridden weekends we've stuck to it.

The memories don't have to be anything fancy,

it might be a trip to the coast

or a day in our PJs,

a silly photoshoot at home

or a weekend away with family,

a play session with some bubbles

or visit to the park.

But we do 'something'.

Something of quality.

Something together.

It is so easy to get bogged down in things,

to worry about things that you can't control

and to waste time.

But the one thing that is for sure

is that time keeps ticking on

whether you embrace it or not.

Each day we have a fresh opportunity

to make some memories

not just for our children

but for ourselves.

We get a fresh set of possibilities everyday

but we don't ever get yesterday's again.

I heard someone say recently that you don't get an overdraft on life.

And that really stuck with me.

Because you only get what you get.

And you can waste what you get on silly things

or you can invest what you are given wisely.

I feel so lucky that I have been given so much

and I intend to make the most of it.

Once those first times have happened and those memories have been made

they can't be lived again

but they can be remembered.

We keep them locked within our hearts

where we can think back on them from time to time and be glad.

And I for one plan on filling my heart up with good stuff,

and my children's hearts too.

Because while we might not get an overdraft on life

I reckon we can have a very full savings account

for those rainier days

if we take the time to invest wisely.