How many of you had so many plans this summer and got very little accomplished? I feel like when summer started, I had a list of things I wanted to get done. Guess how much of it was accomplished? Not very much.

Sometimes it can be difficult to accomplish everything you have planned. We only have 24 hours in a day, and some of that is used for sleeping. It is easy to beat yourself up about not accomplishing your goals or your to-do list for the summer. You may feel like your summer was a waste or that you are a failure. All things that I will add, are not true.

My summer became busier than I expected. I took summer classes, traveled a bunch, worked 7am to sometimes 5pm with three kids, and picked up a second job. Talk about a somewhat overwhelming summer. Intertwined with those activities was everyday life.

At times, it can be difficult to appreciate the small things in life. We get caught up in having things we want to accomplish that we forget how much we actually accomplish every day. It seems silly to think about, but the moment you wake up, your body accomplished something without you even having to tell it to. Your body told you to wake up. Without your consciousness, your body stopped producing melatonin as it got closer to the time you wake up. We never stop to think about how nice it is to wake up in the morning. I feel like that’s an accomplishment.

If you are reading this, I am assuming you are alive. If you are alive, I bet you are breathing. How nice it must be to not even think about breathing in and breathing out. To have lungs that work for you without taking extra time out of your day to get them to work. I feel like that’s an accomplishment.

It is so easy to ignore the little accomplishments of life. It is easy to forget that letting your body relax can also be an accomplishment. Doing a ten-minute workout is an accomplishment. Eating healthy food or drinking a lot of water can be an accomplishment. Brushing your teeth is an accomplishment. Taking a shower and having good hygiene is an accomplishment. Keeping your body healthy is an accomplishment. It may not sound like much, but the everyday activities of taking care of yourself are an accomplishment.

If you are a very driven person who loves to be constantly on the move, it probably seems silly to celebrate such small accomplishments. But it isn’t! It is important to celebrate your body. It is important to celebrate the small things in life. It is not an excuse to be lazy and slack off. It is merely having a mindset of gratefulness.

As school starts, I feel like I will accomplish more because I will have more of a planned schedule. The more structured my days become, the more I usually get accomplished. I will remember though, that even if I do not accomplish everything on my to-do list, my body accomplishes so much and the small things I do to take care of myself are accomplishments in and of themselves. I will be grateful for the small things, but still shoot for those big goals and small to-do lists.