Sometimes in life, it’s all about the little things. Immense, genuine joy can be experienced through the smallest of things. Let me explain. Six marvelous years ago we were blessed to purchase a house in Denver. The house was everything we could have dreamed of, and so much more. It had enough space for my growing family, the location was perfect, and it provided us with everything we needed. There was just one, small, slight, minor issue with the house–the glaring absence of a garage. Every winter morning, I would stumble out to my vehicle at 5:30 AM on my way to study the Lord’s Good Book, and I would be greeted by a frozen car, would be shivering the entire thirty second drive to the local Study Hall.

On the days where there was frost or snow, I would sit in my car, like a frozen squirrel, as my defroster would work feverishly to melt the ice off of my windshield. It seemed like I never learned my lesson, and never thought to leave the ice scraper in my car to speed up this painful process. So I would just wait. And wait. And wait some more.

About four months ago the opportunity arose to purchase a new, larger house. Yes, there were more square feet. Yes, there were more bedrooms. Yes, now I could take a Shabbos nap in serenity, without my children banging on the wall outside my room. But the one thing that sealed the deal for me was clearly the spacious two-car-garage.

And yes, moving a family of 8 with mountains worth of stuff is difficult. Yes, there is nothing I would rather do less in the entire world than move. Yes, one time when a friend of mine asked me to help him move I declined, offering to hire someone to help him in my stead. And I have learned the hard way that when one buys an older house, with a just-as-old boiler, there is a decent chance that one would have to replace that multi-thousand dollar boiler in the near future.

But tonight, 2.5 months after having moved in, and after having finally cleared out our garage, leaving ample room for both cars to be blissfuly parked therein, I realized it was all worth it. The joy and euphoria I felt pulling into the garage tonight, and the delight I will feel climbing into it tomorrow, is worth every bead of sweat that pored out of my brow during the brutal move, and every bloody penny I spent replacing our boiler.

And as we approach the end of the month of Adar, the Jewish month in which we are meant to increase our joy, I have a new appreciation for what true joy and delight really is all about: Blissing out on the small stuff.