Life has its ups and downs. Mostly during our “ups” I think we focus on the bigger picture, enjoy, feel the happiness. But it is during the “downs” we pay attention to smaller things. And sometimes this attention to smaller things bring tiny moments of joy.
Hospital stays are difficult, even more so if you are a caretaker. During one such stay, I used to sit beside the bed and read Ponniyin Selvan. The chief doctor noticed it once during his rounds and he was excited. From then on whenever he saw me, he used to stop and discuss the chapters and only then leave. It was a small gesture from him and immensely helped me in reducing my stress.
Once another doctor asked me my mother’s medical history. When I explained , he stopped looking at the huge medical file and actually paid attention to what I was saying. After I finished, he paused and said ” Do you know how great a daughter you are ! “. He was my hero.
Another time, with a very big doctor the same happened. It was very very stressful and I had taken notes and was showing and explaining to him. He paused and he called in his juniors and asked me if I knew how helpful I was! I was in tears and with those tears came out some of my stress too.
Another time (looks like all my stories are around hospitals- sorry!) I was waiting for cab at 6 AM outside carrying food and everything for the patient. There was this security guard in the opposite apartment and there was a small stick lying on the ground. The guard went back few steps , came running and did a long jump high jump kind of stunt and crossed that stick . It made me smile. For a moment I forgot my situation.
I think in life it is important that we should pause a bit and appreciate small things, like what the doctors did to me. They didn’t have to make that comment. They did and it made my day.
Recently I made the blunder of searching for some symptoms in google. It said “go die”. I went into reddit and searched and read and read and read, trying to find some hope. Surprisingly there were many supportive posts where people mentioned that they had same symptoms and they are very much alive today. One particular comment caught my attention and stayed with me for a long time. It said..
“I don’t have anything helpful to say, but I am sorry you are going through this” . It was the most honest comment yet made the most sense to me and it brought a smile too.
You are good if you have friends who understand your jokes , you are blessed if you have friends who are equally goofy like you. I am blessed!
This girl Tharani ! I don’t know if she knows or not but she is my “finding joy in small things”. So many times when it was stressful for me, I have come back to her blog and read and re-read it and laughed like a maniac.
Whatever you are going through, pause for a moment. Look around. You got this!
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