Whenever I eat chocolate, I’m reminded of the not-so-easy time I went through after college. I had very little money and most of it went towards rent and daily necessities. The only luxury I allowed myself was enjoying a small bar of chocolate, which I bought from the corner store. It was a coconut chocolate, maybe the best I’ve ever tasted. I made my way to the store every day to buy it, because it made my life sweeter at the time and because I had a reason to go for a walk. There was a time when I didn’t know what I wanted from life, because all I wanted was for the university to last forever. But it ended. So, I found myself alone in the middle of the world, among strangers, far from my family which I was not too attached anyway and with a broken heart from a disappointment in love.
The piece of chocolate sweetened my mood, giving me a good feeling, even for a short time. It was the only joy in a world foreign to me, and sometimes a book bought from the antique shop kept me company during the long nights.
I think that the joy I felt enjoying that bar of chocolate was a sign of gratitude for the little that life offered me at that moment. I wasn’t jealous of some of my college colleagues, who had secured a good life and a decent job, I was walking alone around the world munching on the piece of chocolate, which for me was the symbol of a fulfilled life. And fulfillment came along the way.
I once read an interview given by Julio Iglesias. He said that he never valued money as much as in the early days, when he had a few change in his pocket.
Appreciating what we have, no matter how little, attracts abundance without realizing it, because by being grateful for the little in our lives, we show that we are capable of appreciating the abundance to come.
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