👀 When My Surroundings Are More "Alive" Than Me

This is my entry for #popcontest by @karenmckersie on me picking myself up in the midst of frustration. Sometimes, this is the kind of positive motivation I'm writing to my self.

It is the exam period for two of the students I tutor. Hence, in this period, I tend to be more occupied to extend some extra classes to help them to catch up with revision. However, it seemed they didn't feel its urgency though it is four days away from the exam commencement date. I have felt the stress since they told me the exams date, so I insisted to have classes even when it is during these two days of public holidays. The students wanted their holidays, convinced their parents and still canceled one of the classes. I always wonder in these six years, why am I more nervous than them when it comes to their exams? Maybe it is because I take it as an assessment for myself to know how much they have learnt. In addition, I have gotten an annoying headache since three days ago, maybe due to this stress.

I was so frustrated this morning that I was thinking to myself I won't be posting much on Steemit for today. Anyway, enough of me ranting. I have decided that today I'm going to take my mind off the stress and try to take notice of some little things I may not usually notice.

Image Source: Pixabay

“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realize they were the big things.” ~KURT VONNEGUT Source

I realize today that...

• Levi "surrendered" his iPad willingly to me with a smile before I gave him the cut-off time.
• Every car has their own "faces", like they are looking back at us. Some look grumpy while some look very friendly!
• There are many little things around me, which can come "alive" if I put a pair of googly eyes on them.
• Levi knows that L is for Levi! Hahaha He says it proudly everytime.
• I noticed there are two black birds especially like to stay and chirp outside my window.
• My husband is very thoughtful and understanding when I got fed up feeding our boy. He would take Levi away and asked me to have a break.
• There were little children playing happily at the wading pool downstairs. Their laughter and fun could be heard from my house!
• Levi started to feel thankful for us, I think. He would suddenly say and repeat many times, "Daddy, Mummy, Levi... Daddy, Mummy, Levi.... " Maybe it is his way of saying he is grateful for his little family. 😀
• I still can love my student even when I am stressed. Reluctantly but still, I would go and have a class with him, even if it is very out of my convenience.
• My student kept thanking me for coming over in such a short notice, made me some honey lime juice which was very refreshing and nice.
• There's ice cream in the freezer when I thought I have devoured all, heheh! You know the saying that goes: If you can't buy happiness but you can buy ice-cream, and they are the same!
• I am still breathing!

Here's something I am quite embarrassed to share: When I was younger and still was in school, I sometimes had a very good day and then mysteriously, it seemed to be followed by a very bad day the next day. It made me sometimes scared when a very good day came along, because I would be somewhat like anticipating the bad day. That was a torturous way to live. That was all the way until I knew Jesus, or rather He found me and redeemed me off this terrible mindset. He told me He can make everything new and He opens ways for me even in my "bad" days to be powerful over situations. I guess our mood would change when we can stand up to make a decision that "No, this is not how my day is going to be!" That's how powerful our mind is!

It has been a wonderful time as I changed my perspective to look at things and people in my surroundings. I used to be too preoccupied to notice all these little but interesting details. Today, I took time to be away from my phone, my computer and even the "stress of thinking what to revise next", just to ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS! I am not going to lie, because this requires deliberate effort and discipline too as I shift focus to other things, not ignoring my problems but to realign myself again.

Here are some "little fellas" who helped make my day!

Introducing Mr. Grumpy, which happened to be the hook for the missing fire extinguisher, oops!

Next, comes Mr. Life who has plants sprouted in his mouth, hence his name is Life. He is one of the pipes on the stone wall near my parking lot.

Finally, this is Miss Happy, who greeted me as I walked up to my apartment unit. She is a crack on the wall, when the renovation workers accidentally chipped off the wall I think.

As I was writing this post, there's a song kept ringing in my mind:
This is What You Do, by Matt Stinton

You make me come alive, just like the googly eyes that make the objects come alive!

Of course, I would like to sincerely thank @googlyeyes for this opportunity to MAKE me put extra effort to notice the little things around me(hopefully the many pictures in one post is not considered as spamming). Hope the googly eyes brighten up your day too as much as it does for me! I left some of them at where they are for the other passer-bys to notice and be cheered up! 👁👁