Life is a series of events strung together with feelings.

We don’t have to jump out of planes, win races, or have VIP status to think our lives are amazing.

Often, it’s in the small moments when we find true joy. A quiet joy that resonates through every cell and reminds us how wonderful it is to be alive.

Go ahead, sweat the small stuff

Life is usually in the details. It’s in the cracks and crevasses of our busy, bustling schedules. We tend to get so wrapped up in the big events that we easily miss the accumulated subtleties that make big events possible.

How observant have you been lately?

Did you notice the shape of the clouds today? No, it’s not childish to see elephants and ostriches in those fluffy sky pillows.

Did you hear a toddler giggle? It’s pretty much the best sound in the world. And you can’t not smile to yourself when you hear it.

Did you trip over absolutely nothing today? A perfectly clear walking path. No stumbling blocks in sight. And BOOM. Totally stubbed your toe on the air in front of you. That mess is always funny…

Did you taste something delicious today? A perfectly ripe peach? A buttery cashew? A spicy taco? (Mmmm, tacos…)

What little nuances did you catch? What made you smile and think, “Life is pretty darn cool” ?

Your observations are clues about what you value, what motivates you, uplifts your mood, and what you believe life is truly about. Pay attention. You’ll learn a lot about yourself.

Okay, sweat the big stuff, too

Of course there’s joy in big events! Pick that head up and look around at the magnificence that surrounds you! Life is full of bigness and extravagance!

Triumphs, unions, changes – big things deserve a big smile and lots of gratitude.

It’s certainly wonderful to think big, live big, give big, smile big, laugh big – all the things big! Big is great! But we run into trouble when we expect life to be big all the time.

We tend to put too much stock into big and allow big to overshadow the simple details that are necessary to create big in the first place.

And I’m not gonna lie, social media has a ton to do with this…

Pay no attention to social media

It’s very tempting to use social media to glorify our lives and measure ourselves against other people’s profiles. But the reality is that social media is often used for personal branding and doesn’t necessarily guarantee any authentic awesomeness.

We see the extravagant vacation images, check-ins at fabulous clubs and restaurants, abundant likes and shares, and it’s easy to measure our own profiles against the news feed. It’s easy to get into that “gotta keep up with the Jones'” mentality, even if it’s posting motivational quotes and inspirational articles to show people who we are and how we think (including those from The Be Well Place…but go ahead, keep sharing those  )

Resist the urge to view other people’s social media profiles as a comparative standard for how you should live your life. You have no one to compete with.

Certainly express yourself and share your highlight reel if you’d like, promote your business or career path, or be a messenger of positive messages to hopefully dilute all the negativity out there. But there’s no need to over exaggerate your awesomeness on social media – you have nothing to prove to anyone. You have only to live a life of authenticity – and you’re the only one that defines what “authentic” means.

Life is a balancing act

It’s easy to let the big stuff consume our lives. It’s also easy to dig our noses too deep in the details to see what’s actually going on in the world.

Everything about life is dynamic, and so living life is about performing a continuous balancing act.

It’s about walking around the earth, sometimes stumbling over nothing but air and catching our balance so we don’t completely wipe out. (And sometimes we do wipe out…but whatever…)

No need to put unnecessary pressure on ourselves. No need to be so rigid. We just need to find that sweet spot between structure and flexibility. Big and small. Global and local. External and internal.

And when we do, we know it immediately. In that space, we feel peaceful. Calm. Neutral. Not emotionless, but stable. Secure. We feel safe. Like we belong. Like life has meaning and that it is so wonderful to be alive.