The Little Things

The weeks have been strange. Days pour out one after the other, and though there have been reasons to smile it's quite unfair - and truly ungrateful - that I find it hard to even flash a smirk.

Last night, on my way home from what seemed like a dreary Monday, I was comforted by what my friend Domi called an urban miracle. And really, in its seeming insignificance, it was such a funny and warm miracle.

I was waiting in line at Robinson's Galleria shuttle area. It was just like any other day, the lines were long and the noise from the buses and the passengers and the vendors were so loud they managed to penetrate my earphones. I was singing to Jordin Sparks (yes, her songs are a pick-me-up for me) in my head when the shuttle for Masinag pulled over. The driver motioned us to get in the shuttle - and to my luck, the front of the FX was still free. I was able to sit in the passenger's seat!

It seems dumb, really, but it's been months since I last sat in the front. The simple fact of me being able to sit there was such a comforting thought. I didn't have to squeeze myself in between everyone in the back! It was such a relief!

So fast forward to around an hour later - stuck in traffic in front of Sta. Lucia Mall in Marcos Highway, I found myself staring blankly at the mall's facade. I was mindlessly looking at the billboards, the dilapidated signages and the darkness surrounding them when I was surprised by a flash of light that came streaking across the black sky! I quickly mouthed a wish under my breath - when I suddenly realized that it wasn't a shooting star I was wishing on. It was, apparently, just the headlights of the cars speeding in the other lane reflected on the FX's glass window.

I felt dumb for a fragment of a second, but was then overcome by a giggle that grew to a quiet smile. What a beautiful scene, I thought to myself. Who knew that the reflection of headlights speeding on another lane would look like shooting stars?

I came home tired, but oddly filled a with a child-like sense of awe. I was being such a brat the whole day - I looked back and was ashamed at my being so negative, when in fact, little miracles unfold around us, if only we took the time to look (cliche, but hey! it's true). Lately I've been so caught up with such huge questions about life, love, dreams, work, family, friends, relationships, people, the future that I think I've forgotten to live by the day and enjoy the little things that actually matter.

It's the little things. When we look up at the sky, we see such little specks glittering - sure they're just stars. Sometimes they're a hundred scattered across the dark velvet of the night sky. Other times they're covered by clouds, with only 3 or 4 managing to twinkle like small grains of glowing sand. Lately I've been choosing to look at them just as how I see them - small, tiny sparks on a black canvas. I've forgotten that in truth, they are giants, swirling and glowing in the vastness of space.

It's the little things that matter, I realize. It's the dumb moments when you thought headlights are shooting stars, or sitting comfortably in the passenger seat of an FX after a long Monday, or getting a simple text message from a friend in the middle of the night, reminding you that they will always be there for you.

:)