After years of self-work, 27-year-old Seattle local Bina Varkey has finally begun to appreciate the little things in life – like her paycheck, for example.
“I knew I would only find true happiness in life once I started practicing gratitude for the small things in my life,” Bina told reporters. “A quiet morning walk, the way a cool breeze feels against my skin, my tiny, tiny, miniscule paycheck that barely covers my rent let alone any of my other bills – these are all things that I’ve had to teach myself to appreciate. It hasn’t always been easy, but my life has definitely benefited from it.”
Bina says since starting her appreciation journey, her mindset has completely transformed: she went from thinking “That’s it?” whenever her paycheck was deposited into her account, to thinking “Yay! Money!” and erasing all her past-due bills from her mind altogether.
However, when it comes to actually recognizing the small joys in life, Bina admits it can be a struggle.
“It can be easy to not even notice the little things in your life, let alone appreciate them,” she said. “Like, whenever payday comes around, I have to immediately turn around and put that money toward rent. Sometimes it feels like it never even happened.”
Bina says keeping a gratitude journal has been instrumental in learning to appreciate the little things.
“Writing things down has been hugely helpful in being more grounded in my day-to-day life,” she said. “If I didn’t write down ‘Got paid today!’ in my journal, I’d never remember a time when my account balance wasn’t $0, let alone remember to be happy about it.”
Bina tells reporters that she used to be so annoyed by how small her paycheck was, that she never took the time to be grateful for it.
“My boss denying my request for a raise was a huge turning point for me,” she said. “I realized that this is probably as good as it’s going to get for a while, so I might as well attempt to find joy in being able to afford rent and literally nothing else, instead of wallowing in the financial anxiety that comes with never having a cent to my name. Things are awesome!”
Reporters noted that Bina’s eyes looked dull and lifeless while she said this.
At press time, Bina had discovered more little things in her life to be appreciative of: her studio apartment, the amount of free time she has in a given day, and the portion of her medical bills that her health insurance covers.
