Little advantages
London street scene, 2005
“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.” — Benjamin Franklin
Just as it’s often the minor irritations that distract us and wear us down, so too the power of small blessings can transform our lives. The trick is becoming aware of them. Sunny weather, fragrant blooms, a cup of hot tea on a chilly morning, the delicious smell of food when we’re hungry…what little advantages are brightening your day today?
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: awareness, being thankful, blessings, gratitude, happiness, simple joys
Defeat Despair 
The impatients are gorgeous and brings such pleasure. Thanks for sharing Julia, bless you.
Thank you, goldie! I am glad you liked the photo – I love flowers and cannot resist taking pictures of them. Please visit again!
This reminded me of your visit to me in England a few years prior. We were each taking photos of flowers and of each other taking photos! Remember the tulips near Big Ben? We had a conversation about our children that day that has stuck with me since. And I don’t always have a very good memory! 😉
Yes, the photo of you with the tulips near Big Ben will probably show up on here eventually, when I get around to excavating my pre-digital storehouse of photos.
I got so much done today, it’d be hard to pick one. But I love this notion…hooray for the little things…for one day we look back and realize they are the big things.
Don’t you just love it when you have one of those days where you get a lot of things done? I try to remind myself of such days during the times when everything seems to go wrong. Even on the worst day, there are little blessings to enjoy…for me, TEA is a constant! 🙂
Julia, I agree! And I like to sing a little song whenever I get something new: “Praise the Lord, I have a new (pair of socks, or whatever), Praise the Lord, I have a new pair of socks!”
Silly, but effective.
Thanks Susan. I really don’t think that’s silly at all! Words are powerful, whether we keep them inside our minds and hearts, or say them aloud, or write them. When we give expression to our grateful thoughts, we bring them to life. Remember Psalm 103:2. Thanks for sharing this. If we ever had to be without socks or other small but necessary things, we would realize how worthy of praise are such “little” blessings.
It was good to revisit this!
Rene, I’m glad you revisited! With nearly 1100 posts, there are dozens (maybe hundreds) that I have completely or almost completely forgotten about, until I happen on them again (usually because of the three random selections WordPress appends to each new post).