Under Grumpa's Hat

There comes a point in life when you start realizing that the things you once thought you needed aren’t necessarily the things that make you happy. The latest gadget loses its shine, the new car eventually becomes just another way to get from A to B, and somewhere along the way you discover that happiness doesn’t usually make much noise. It shows up quietly, often without noticing immediately.

Maybe getting older has simply taught me to pay more attention to the little things, because there are a hell of a lot of them worth appreciating.

30 Things I’m NOT tired of:

1. Sunrises and sunsets
2. Thunderstorms
3. Finding a cool rock
4. The moon
5. Country roads
6. Time in nature
7. Hearing an old song and knowing every word
8. Waking up beside my wife
9. The smell of fresh-cut grass
10. A campfire on a cool evening
11. Watching wildlife do what wildlife does
12. The sound of rain on the roof
13. Finding a quiet place where nobody else is around
14. Hearing from my loved ones
15. The first cup of coffee in the morning
16. A good laugh that makes your stomach hurt
17. Old photographs that bring back a thousand memories
18. Sitting beside a lake with nowhere to be
19. The smell of pine or maple trees
20. Fishing, even when the fish aren’t even biting
21. A good plate of spaghetti
22. Dogs that greet you like you’ve been gone for ten years
23. The sound of a loon across the water
24. Driving with the windows down and nowhere in particular to go
25. People who still say “please” and “thank you”
26. Random acts of kindness from complete strangers
27. Stories told by people who have lived a little
28. Looking up at the stars and realizing how small my problems really are
29. Coming home
30. Maple syrup

BONUS: Things that don’t need a subscription, an app, a password or a damn instruction manual.

Maybe that’s what getting older has taught me most: you don’t need more things to be grateful for, you just need to notice the things you already have. The world will keep trying to convince us that happiness is waiting in the next purchase, the next destination, the next upgrade or the next notification.

I’m becoming increasingly convinced it’s sitting right under our noses, usually wearing muddy boots, holding a coffee, listening to the rain or sharing a laugh with someone we love. These are the things that don’t go out of style, don’t require an update and, thankfully, don’t come with a monthly subscription.

And as long as I can still appreciate them, I’ll consider myself a pretty lucky man.