I know that this is harder than it sounds. Actually, it is hard. Juggling work and being in the hospital before and after work and even sacrificing work is not easy. But I just realized that I feel so alive, and happy and responsible.

I started seeing the beauty with everything I do for Mother, for myself, and for the people around me. Even walking a long road because we are saving for her medications and operation makes me smile too! You may be thinking I’m going crazy, but that is what I feel.

Life can be full of hatred, envy, sickness, poverty, war, and chaos here in this world, but I believe that if we can actively see beauty in each and every little thing that we do, we can help build a better world to live in.

I know that I haven’t perfected seeing beauty in everything, but at least I know that I am trying real hard to find beauty in everything that comes my way.

I have been a sucker for this for a very long period of time. Just like you, I always have that eagerness to just find beauty in everything; to appreciate even the ugliest situation I’m at, or even control my emotions over people who’s been doing me wrong and still see the good in them.

I know we all have that I’m-so-bored moment in our lives where we think that we are just in an autopilot stage, and nothing gets better in everything we do, and everywhere we are, even though we feel like we are striving to be out of that era.

However, what I realized is that we actually don’t have boring days and nights. Yes! If only we appreciate the book you’re reading or the coffee that you’re drinking, or the person you are with now (that you feel boring too!), you will never get bored and will simply appreciate things differently – full of love and beauty.

 

Due to the high technological advancement in our generation, we sometimes forget to appreciate the small things in life.

We forget how God gives us grace every day to wake up alive, we forget to appreciate the food on the table, the house we have, the friends who take time to ask how you are, your household help who prepares breakfast every morning. And the list goes on and on and on.

Let’s try to appreciate small things.

I feel like I have been keen to frowning lately, even if I am not upset. And I just realized that it indeed has a negative vibe not just to myself, but to people around me as well.

So, always, always smile. If you saw your not-so-close officemate down the road, smile. If you appreciate something, smile. There is always, always something to be thankful for.

Yes, you read that right.

When was the last time you actually try to appreciate the ground that you are stepping in? When was the last time you breath deeply and feel the air in your lungs? When was the last time you smelled the aroma of your coffee or tea?

Live intimately with life and who knows, you might discover or rediscover something in yourself.

I personally want to do this every week.

Once in a week, why not try to disconnect yourself from all social networking sites? Sometimes, people tend to fetch hard emotions over the internet. Some rants, problems, and even online envy can lead to feeling down even if you’re not.

Disconnect yourself from the online community and see the real beauty outside the world.

Travel with friends, cook dinner with your family, connect to the real community — the outside world and you’d be amazed how this can change your mindset about beauty.

6. Evaluate and change your perspective in life

Sometimes, our perspectives hinder us to see the beauty of life. If not evaluated well as soon as possible, these sometimes make us a pessimistic person.

Here, we have to focus on the lesson, not the problem or the issue.

I remember searching (and saving!) for an expensive camera for my travels and for giving my photos a professional look. However, because we need to save for our house in Cavite, this dream of mine suddenly became a burden. I know I could never buy this camera anytime soon which indeed affects me. I know God knew how I love to have this camera.

But what I realized is that I need not a very expensive professional camera. I just need a great smartphone for my everyday use! It is when I found Huawei P9. What I love the most is its camera is co-engineered with Leica making it as the ultimate camera-phone!

It has dual lenses that produce high quality photos and allow users to take amazing monochrome, slo-mo, colored, light painting photos among others.

What I learned here is that I can always share my thoughts, my travels, even without this expensive cameras and whatnot.

Everything is easily said than done. It’s true.

All of these might sound enticing and inspiring, but then again, the bottom line is we should all slow down, and enjoy life to the fullest.

Eat together with your family, go out on a Saturday with friends, take a coffee break in an artsy fartsy coffee shop, read your favorite book, and take pictures of these moments.

Beauty is never about the physical appearance. It is about your heart, your thoughts, and your perspective in life.

I am just so happy to say that, I may not perfect seeing beauty in everything and in everyone, but what I know is that this serves as a reminder to me and to everyone who’s reading this to appreciate yourself, see things beautifully, be passionate about something, change your perspective and always be thankful every day, no matter what situation you are in.

As Wayne Dyer says, “change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”

Beauty is everywhere all around us, we just have to open our eyes to see.