Take time to notice the little things.

It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind. Your alarm rattles you out of bed at the same time every morning. You go to work (or school) for 8 hours, hit the gym, then head home to enjoy up a savory ‘mac&cheese’ dinner on your couch in front of your TV, a long phone conversation with your girlfriend about your day, some more TV or perhaps a little reading, with your day culminating amidst a chorus of snores and the late night news. Fast forward to the next morning and the cycle repeats. Don’t get me wrong, routines aren’t all bad. They can be comfortable and comforting. The risk, however, is getting trapped in a rut so deep you need a stepladder to climb out. Once you’re in that dreaded rut in the road, days roll into weeks, weeks into months, and before you know it, you’re toasting the new year and wondering where yet another year has gone. Come January 1, the routine continues, with barely a blip of change detected on the radar (you know, those dreaded ‘new years resolutions’). Don’t let this happen to you. Today will be as ordinary or extraordinary as you make it. Try something new today. It doesn’t have to be anything major. Walk home from school a different way. Hang out with a different buddy after school. Go for a walk on the beach or in the woods, it’s your call. While you’re out there, don’t just stare at your feet. Look around. I mean really look around. You’ll be amazing by the wonderful things you’ve been missing. A single black-eyed susan drifting like a tumbleweed along the beach. A woodpecker chattering away at an old pine tree. Simple things. Beautiful things. Intriguing things. Life is about paying attention. My first piece of advice for you is simple - become an active participant in your life. There’s so much out there for you, so many of life’s clues to be discovered, so much joy to be experienced. Let’s get started, shall we?