Every morning when we wake up, our first thoughts are about all that needs to get done for that day, but how often do we wake up and ask ourselves if we are loved? Strange question I suppose, but I think it is an invaluable one that oftentimes gets forgotten. It's the little things in life that sustain us, but they do so without us even realizing it. When I say little things of course, I mean the small but ever so meaningful things that happen to us on a daily basis that have a profound impact on how we make it through the day. It could be a simple friendly wave, or a text message from your best friend. It may not seem like much at first thought, but what would we do without these small gestures in our daily lives?

At my lowest moments in college when I find myself upset and struggling, my first thoughts are of home with my family and dogs. My stress fuels my home-sickness, but fortunately my family has come to realize this. If your family is like mine, they make sure that your time at home is well worth it. For instance, days before I am set to return home, my mom sends me pictures of all of the junk food and goodies she bought specifically for my return home to make my breaks more enjoyable. She thinks about me and my well-being. She asks what special dinners I want for the nights that I am home. I have to catch myself because I find that sometimes I take for granted how profoundly loved I am. The small act of sending me a picture of a bag of caramels on a day that I had two exams fueled on two hours of sleep keeps me going and puts a smile back on my face.

The cards that I receive from my grandparents also sustain me. Every time I check my mailbox and find a card from New York, a smile is instantly brought to my face. And honestly, my grandparents don't need to write anything in order to make me happy. The simple act of getting a card and sending it to me is all I need. Of course the occasional care package with chocolate is also appreciated, but certainly more than I could ever ask for. The most profound sign of my grandparents' love is when a money is put in the card with the message "Please try to have some fun". It is not a shock to anyone that I work myself to the bone at school, and by writing this in the card, it is clear to me that they have my best interests in mind when I am too blind to see the ills of my ways.

Have you ever received a text or a gift from a friend or family member just because they said they were thinking about you? For instance, my grandma was out shopping with a friend when she saw a pink pearl necklace and immediately thought of me. She brought me the necklace two weeks ago when she came up to school to visit. My grandma didn't need to do that for me, but she did because she cares for me, and every time I wear that necklace, I smile to think about how loved it am.

In addition to this idea, a smile is also brought to my face when my friends send me a meme or tag me in an Instagram picture about Sephora and say they thought of me when they saw it. That to me is true friendship. When someone knows something about you and makes the effort to let you know they thought of you, it makes everything more meaningful. It's a small gesture, but there is a deeper meaning behind it all. It means this person actually cares about you enough to take time out of his or her busy schedule to remind you that they take interest in your life.

When you come home from break and your dogs are so excited to see you after weeks of being away, that is profound love. While it may not seem like much at all, considering that dogs get excited in the morning when they see you for the first time, but it is still a comforting feeling. It isn't like humans have ferociously wagging tails to symbolize how happy they are to see one another. But watching my dogs get so excited to see me every time I come home truly warms my heart.

Lastly, if you are a workaholic like me at school, you probably also appreciate the occasional reward you get for all of your hard work. It could be as simple as a note at the bottom of your paper from your professor thanking you for an insightful response, or it could be a professor asking you to participate in a panel because they think you offer a unique perspective on something. When teachers, bosses, or any supervisor acknowledges you as a hard-worker, as a person with a life outside of the classroom or office, it's meaningful. It means they are looking behind the name on the roster, the name on payroll, and they want you to know how much they appreciate you as a human-being.

Perhaps you can relate to any number of these instances, and perhaps you can even think of more. All of these instances are reminders of how much those around us care and how we play a role in others' lives just as much as they do in our's. We encounter so much in our daily lives that sometimes it can be hard to take notice of it all, but if we took at least five minutes out of our daily lives to acknowledge all of the good, perhaps we could deal with all the ugly in a healthier, more successful way.