It's the Little Things

We hear people say this all the time: It's the Little Things in Life that Matter. I've heard this everywhere my whole life. In fact, I heard it so often that it started to feel a little bit cliche or Hallmark-y to me. Like reading a cheesy self-help book. It's the little things that matter. Right. But I never actually stopped to sit down and consider the little things in life that do matter to me. 

Little things matter in a big way. I didn't really realize this.... didn't really live this.... until I was in Uganda.

Take Coca-Cola, for example. In America, it's available to me as often as water. I drink so many cans of soda that I stop realizing its not water. One day we left Kishanje to visit Rubanda. Halfway there we stopped at a cafe for lunch. THEY HAD COCA-COLA. For the previous three weeks I'd been drinking bottled water and African tea (The. Best. Beverage. Ever. I'll talk more about this later). When I took my first sip of Coca-cola, it felt like I was discovering it for the first time! Sweet, sugary, bubbly syrupy goodness fizzled on my tongue and tickled its way down my throat. I felt the coolness pool in my belly and became absolutely loony. IT TASTED SO GOOD. 

My point being--- when you take away one of those itty bitty small things you enjoy (like a Coca-Cola), you realize how much you should have been enjoying them! Since I've been back in the States I've followed a much healthier diet (well, okay, let's be honest: for the first month or two I did). I drink water with my meals and "treat" myself to other beverages like beer. I mean, juice and soda. I pour my Coca-cola into a tall glass of ice and I taste it. It's such a simple pleasure that previously went unnoticed.

Ugandan Sunrise....so much more beautiful in wide open space

Other little things to cherish:
*Warm towels right out of the dryer
*Hot showers when you're cold and cold showers when you're hot
*Fresh clean sheets
*An over-sized fuzzy sweater
*Receiving a letter in the mail
*Finishing a good book
*Slowly chewing and tasting your meals, while sitting down
*Walking---how often do we loathe walking anywhere? Listen to music, take photos, look around you, it's a nice day outside :)
*Taking out the trash, where it gets picked up by garbage men, out of sight and smell
*Clean water right from the kitchen sink
*A freshly sharpened pencil
*Trying a new shampoo
*A phone call
*Trying to decide what shoes to wear in the morning
*Unloading the dishwasher
*Vacuuming
*Access to public libraries
*Shopping carts
*Smooth (mostly) paved roads and sidewalks
*Playground equipment and parks for children

Ugandan CTA 

Just to name a few. The list is endless. Make one for yourself, it feels marvelous.

And a list of little things I am most excited to return to in Kishanje:
*Sleeping under a mosquito net
*Dirt between my toes
*African tea (mmmmmm hot English Tea with goat milk)
*AFRICAN KETCHUP (called "top up")
*Playing charades in order to communicate
*Barefoot football
*Chapati (a doughy wonderful flat bread that I believe is also part of Indian cuisine)
*Popcorn popping on an open fire
*Hiking, climbing, walking to get places
*Hearing "MUZUNGU! MUZUNGU! MUZUNGU!" (which means "A white person! A white person!)
*Hugging, kissing and holding hands with strangers
*Growing produce in a garden
*Beautiful colors everywhere....in the land, faces, clothing
*Being pet (sounds pretty weird, but yes, the children pet me and I love it)

The list is endless. You can make one too if you come with me :)

JAM kids in Mbarara singing "Webare Jesu" which means

THANK YOU JESUS.

Don't forget to say thank you for all that you have today.