7 Things That Made My Day

Michael K. || Peer Leader || Mbabane, Swaziland

​​I’ve written this piece to shine light on the joy that can stem from the little things in life. Below are 7 things that made my day today:

• Morning smile: Having gone to bed late, I yearned to sleep in, but had no luck doing that! As early as 8 AM the door bell was ringing. I woke up unwillingly, but when I looked outside, the sun was shining so brightly, and the birds were singing so beautifully that I couldn’t help but smile at the prospect of this new day.

• A long-forgotten audio recording: The same morning, I opened my laptop and was randomly going through my documents when I stumbled on a very poor-quality audio recording of one of my oldest songs. I wrote it in September 2012. Back then I didn’t know how to play the guitar properly. My attempts to discern what I was singing or playing were actually very hilarious, and it made my day, looking back at the starting point and realizing how much progress I’ve made in my musical abilities.
• Providing a helping hand: When I left the house, I went to help my former biology teacher who is moving. Along with a friend, we helped her move some boxes. We’ve been doing this for 6 days now, and I couldn’t help but think of how nice it felt to be giving back to and assisting one of my greatest motivators – an environmental laureate who I was lucky to have as my bio teacher and mentor.
• 11-day reunion: I graduated from high school 12 days ago, and I haven’t seen any of my classmates since. Today I met up with four of them, and we had some lunch and great conversation, reminding me of the good old days of the Mensa (German word for cafeteria) talks … oh how I miss that already!
• Hawaiian Pizza: I ordered Hawaiian pizza, and everyone laughed at me, wondering how somebody can eat pizza, along with pineapples. Well, trust me, I had a tough time explaining how we have different tastes, but I was truly entertained by my friends’ funny faces reacting to my “pizza Hawaii”.
• Hugs, surprise visit: While at school, I also managed to see some of my junior-year friends. They didn’t expect me there, so the surprise visit worked miracles! Those tight hugs accompanied by ‘what are you doing here’ questions and ‘I miss you’ statements gave me some nostalgia and a great amount of joy.
• Written reflection of my day: Coming back to my room, writing this piece as a way of reflecting on my day also delighted my heart. It is a wonderful reminder that I can find joy in service and small things every day.