The holocaust memoir Man's Search for Meaning, by psychotherapist and Auschwitz survivor Victor Frankl, is known for noting that those in his concentration camp who gave away their last piece of bread would survive the longest. But Frankl also shares something else important: how he and many prisoners found relief from their desperate situation by musing over the past.
But what's interesting is that it wasn't their major life events that sprang to their minds. It wasn't the big celebrations or holidays they might've once planned and enjoyed, in view of enriching their life experience.
No...
...it was the little things.
It was remembering the feel and sound of turning and locking the key in their own front door. The mundane memory of strolling down the street where they lived, of which they knew every detail. The familiar sound of their phone ringing into the silent air of their home.
It was the moments of “ordinary” that their minds settled on in their darkest hours. And Frankl says it was these simple memories that became treasures.
What are your little things today? Your treasures...
Because, as the founder of Mindful Based Stress Reduction, John Kabat-Zinn says:
“The little things, the little moments, they aren't little.”
Wishing you a happy little Monday 🙂
Love, Jo x
P.S. Sometimes when we've been over-stressed or seeking the “extraordinary”, focusing on the little things can sometimes, at first, bring a feeling of numbness, boredom or frustration. Notice and stick with it...
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