2020 has been a heavy year. Honestly, it felt that way before the Rona took us all hostage. I’m fighting that. In that vein, I like to remind myself of “little happy things.”

Oatmeal. It’s the best comfort food. It’s hot. It’s creamy. It’s versatile. Oh, and it helped bring my strangely high cholesterol down last fall! (family heart disease history) It is not uncommon to find a packet of instant oatmeal at my desk. I’d like to say that I do all the overnight oat stuff, but that would be blowing smoke… I don’t prep well.

Music. I dressed this morning to 90’s hits. I have uplifting, contemporary Christian on at my desk. I sang and played piano with my sisters this weekend. I run to music of all genres with a good beat, but sometimes questionable lyrics. Music has the power to set moods, change moods, set a pace, and uplift!

Walks. Yesterday, I texted a friend spontaneously to ask if she wanted to take a 20 minute walk over lunch. She did! This may not seem like a huge deal, but stepping away from work and everything else to move and chat with a friend was probably the high point of my day. Movement feels good. Fresh air feels great. Time with a friend is priceless!

Basically, all my “little happy things” were free or cheap. Instead of focusing on how certain points of my day were dumpster fires, turning my attention to these “little happy things” flipped that narrative.

Isn’t that what this year is teaching us to do? We don’t have to focus on all the big things taken away. Instead, I encourage you to look for all the little rays of sunshine. For me, sometimes it’s a simple as “hey, that phone call sucked… think I’ll go for a quick walk or maybe a mug of oatmeal.” I know, not eloquent… but very real.

What are your little happy things? Maybe you have a dozen or perhaps you are striving for one. I’ve been in both places. Today, take a moment to jot down one or two and keep it somewhere. Save it. In the words of the California Raisins, you’ll have “sunshine on a cloudy day.”