It’s the little things in life

I see one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking sights every morning at 5:30am.

As Maja and I drive in to start the day and coach the morning Workshop crew, we pass through Sandymount and by a retirement home.

Most mornings, sitting outside in his electric buggy, is an old man. Alone. Deep in thought. His stare is almost as deep and burning as the sunrise he’s looking out towards.

Every time I see him, I get hit with different waves of emotion.

Part of me thinks how beautiful it is. No matter the season. No matter the weather. No matter what life has thrown at him. He still has this little moment to himself every day. Just him and the sunrise.

But then another wave hits me.

I wonder why he’s there alone. Where is his family? What happened to his other half? What stories has he lived through? What victories and heartbreaks sit behind those eyes? My mind starts trying to piece together a life puzzle I’ll never know the answer to.

Life today seems designed to pass us by at a frightening speed.

We’re bombarded with quick hits of dopamine from doom scrolling, endless notifications, and the constant rat race of work and responsibility.

We’re forever chasing the next thing that’s supposed to make us happy.

The new car.

The promotion.

The bigger house.

The holiday.

Yet so often we arrive at these milestones and realise they don’t quite deliver what we thought they would.

Now, I’m no life guru. In fact, if you’ve ever been in one of my classes, you’ll know I regularly tell people not to take life advice from me.

But one thing I have realised is that happiness, for me, lives in the little moments.

The slower side of life.

The tiny 0.01% moments that quietly happen every day.

It’s waiting for the water to boil while camping before that first morning coffee.

It’s hiking with my dad and having conversations that somehow only happen when you’re walking side by side.

It’s watching someone in The Workshop achieve their first push-up, hit a PB, or finally master a skill they’ve spent months working on.

It’s laughing with family around a Sunday dinner table.

It’s sitting in silence beside someone you love and feeling completely comfortable because they’re simply there.

People spend so much time chasing the big moments that they miss thousands of little ones along the way.

Yet when I look back on my happiest memories, it’s rarely the grand occasions that stand out.

It’s the ordinary moments.

The conversations.

The laughs.

The coffees.

The sunrises.

The moments that seemed insignificant at the time but somehow became the memories that mattered most.

So wake up early and watch the sunrise.

Go for the run with your friend.

Visit your parents.

Stay a little longer after coffee.

Take the walk.

Because life isn’t made up of a handful of big moments.

It’s made up of thousands of little ones.

And if you’re not careful, they’ll pass you by before you even realise they were there.

As Ferris Buler said “ life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it”