It is the first week of New Year 2021. We hope some of you at least had a great start to the first working day of this New Year. This morning, First Monday of 2020 was trending online with memes and motivation, a mix of both. But after a rough year of 2020, of passing from one disaster into another, a lot of people have welcomed this year with much hope and gratefulness. We probably kept a lot of expectations from the year gone by, most of them were for the year to get better. Although we are still battling with the pandemic of coronavirus, people have set their bar low this time. And to start with, we need to really find happiness and contentment in smallest of things. In this article, we tell you some ways to enjoy the little things in life and in a way fill your life with positivity.

Rise Up to Watch The Sunrise

If you had been late-riser, let watching the sunrise be your goal for each day. Just seeing the first rays of the sun reaching us can be so refreshing. Try and go for a walk in the morning before the sunrise and enjoy the daytime taking shape in front of you.

Smile at a Stranger

No, we definitely do not mean in a creepy sort of way. If you are going to the store, smile at a stranger (with your eyes, since you have to be wearing a mask). You must have read the fact that it takes 17 muscles to smile and 42 to frown. Just give a smile, it costs nothing. Decoding a Smile: Types of Smiling Faces and What They Mean!

Say 'Thank You' or Greet 'Good Day' 

These casual greetings are underrated but they can go a long way. Saying 'Thank You' or 'Have a Good Day' to a shopkeeper, a delivery person, your cab rider can really make them feel positive, even if for a moment.

Try Home Gardening

We all love a bit of greenery around us. Why not grow our own flowers? Get in flowering plants and try your hand at home gardening. It's a different joy to see them bloom. You could also plant your own veggies and go sustainable.

Try a New Recipe

It could be a simple breakfast snack or a full-course meal, try something you've never done before. Last year, in the months of lockdown a lot of us experimented into our kitchen. Continue with the habit of cooking something new, invite your neighbours over and just enjoy a good home-cooked dish.

Click Pictures

If you are not disciplined about maintaining a journal, keep a visual diary by clicking pictures. It could be a good sunrise/sunset, something you cooked, a quote you read, a new dress you wore, or anything that simply made you happy on a particular day. Capture that memory and you can look at it when you are having that one bad day.

Look Up To The Stars

We have been cocooned in our homes for far too long in 2020. So every time you step out, don't forget to watch the night sky. Take a moment to just appreciate the little twinkles which we only remember as rhymes.

These are some little habits that you can include in your routine, nothing out of the ordinary. The idea is to just soak in the presence of simple, daily things around us and appreciate it. After what we have been thrown at by year 2020, let us make 2021 count for all the small things.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2021 06:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).