Helen Speaks

I was waiting for a bus the other day and a small boy, perhaps two or three years old, was excitedly trying to tell me something.

His big sister, a few years older than him, explained, “He’s telling you he went on a train today.”

Sometimes, when life is heavy, you have to remember that a small child wouldn’t be noticing and/or imagining the passive aggressive tone in their colleague’s email, wouldn’t be silently fuming that the supermarket have moved things around again, wouldn’t be sitting there wondering what they were doing with their life and whether it all matters.

They would just be looking at it all and going, “Wow.”

You got to ride a train? You got to sit on the top deck of the bus? You saw blossom on a tree, or a squirrel scampering across a path? You got to eat chocolate today?! Your bed is comfy and you have a cherished stuffed animal? How lucky are you?!

Sometimes in this world, it seems like there are so many ways that our emotions are manipulated. Adverts that tell us we can’t be happy without their product. Politicians and news media that use our fear to gain support. Endless scrolling sites that we can bury ourselves in so we don’t have to face our boredom and discomfort.

But no one’s selling that kid’s joy at going on a train. No one can sell the blossom or the blue sky.

It’s always good to have a reminder that so much of happiness is just the little things. Thanks to the small boy who loved his train ride, and who reminded me of that!

Question: What are the little things that have given you joy today?

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