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Phrase: Take as given
The small things in life keep us sane.
Make it a personal rule never to take anything as given.
Without them, we’d all go bonkers in a New York minute.
The cherry blossom viewing season has officially started in Japan.
This weekend is the best time to see them in full bloom.
Japanese love to take in the ephemeral beauty of these delicate pink flowers and use them as a kickoff to new beginnings.
Typically, Westerners see the New Year as a time to make a fresh start, but for the Japanese, it’s when the cherry blossoms bloom.
They are something we should never take as given.
One year the weather is fantastic, and we can view the blooms to our heart’s content.
The following year, however, may be a different story.
One day of heavy rain can knock the petals to the ground and create a pink carpet of sadness for everyone to walk on.
When we take something as given, we falsely believe it will always be there and never change.
It’s a falsehood because change is what makes the world go around.
Change happens daily; old pleasures disappear, and new ones spring up.
A smile, kind words, or a passing hello can make someone’s day.
A small flower silently growing and blooming by the side of the road can inspire someone to carry on with life.
Never take anything as given.
The blue sky, a laughing river or the enjoyment you get from the first cup of tea in the morning are things that some people haven’t experienced for many years.
A sudden illness, natural disaster or economic downturn can destroy everything you have.
Enjoy the small pleasures of life now, never take them as given, and you’ll have fewer regrets later.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 73.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.