“Beep, beep, beep.” My alarm for 5:40 woke me up from my almost completed dream. How could I have forgotten to turn off that monotone alarm on my first day of Thanksgiving break? As blissful as the feeling was to turn of the alarm and fall back on my bed, it seemed as if sleep had escaped me. So after tossing and turning in my bed for over an hour, I decided to end my misery. What a perfect start to the break.
With puffy eyes and a faint throbbing in my head, I trudged downstairs and plopped on my sofa. Now what? Everyone in my house was fast asleep and I was sitting on my couch at 7:15 in the morning.
As I got up to go back into my room, I noticed the dark skies starting to lighten. I peeked outside of my window to see the slightest sliver of the sun peak above the horizon. The weather wasn’t awfully chilly and I decided to sit in my balcony. I may even get tired enough to fall back asleep.
I watched the burning ball of flame ignite the skies with its radiant light. I saw the birds wake up and sing their way into the day. I saw early risers walk their dogs and the crazy people who wake up early to exercise.
I never noticed how bright the blue of the sky really was. Or how vividly colored the fall leaves can be. I never realized how peaceful the quiet felt or how annoying the neighbors with the lawnmower can be.
Its strange how I wake up to these simple things everyday but fail to realize their worth. Life has gifted us with so many simple beauties that we fail to acknowledge everyday. We do pay attention, however, to the negative, like the obnoxious beeping of the alarm to the growing headache before our morning coffee, yet ignore the melodic chirps of the busy birds.
How many simple pleasures have I failed to embrace?
