The Little Things That Make Life Feel Less Spiky

Written somewhere between dodging rainfall, brief pockets of sunshine, and watching the national Phonics Check unfold from the sidelines, where teachers are either thriving, surviving, or powered entirely by caffeine, determination, and a steady stream of “eeks”, “ogs”, “shplurgs”, and “meeks” echoing somewhere in the background of my brain.

Meanwhile…I keep going back to something a child said earlier this week.

“Lola makes the day feel less spiky.”

I’ve genuinely been thinking about that ever since. Because if we’re honest, most of us have spiky days.

The kind where the to do list seems to reproduce overnight.
The kind where your inbox develops a personality.
The kind where someone says, “Can I just have a quick word?” and your brain immediately assumes you’re about to be told off for something you don’t remember doing.
The kind where you’ve survived the week and feel you should be awarded a small medal, a nap, and possibly a parade by Friday.

So what actually helps? What makes it ‘less spiky’? What softens the edges?

For Lola, the answer appears to be remarkably simple.

A puddle. A ball. A snack. A cuddle. A nap. The opportunity to run at full speed for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Problem solved!

Unfortunately, most of us are slightly more complicated than a ginger cocker spaniel with bad hair. Or so we like to think.

The funny thing is, when I really stop and think about the things that make my own days feel less spiky, they’re often not that different.

A child saying something unexpectedly wise.
An adult making me laugh.
A cup of coffee while it’s still hot (rare, but magical).
Sunshine appearing at exactly the right moment.
A message from a friend.
A dog greeting me as though I’ve been missing for several years when I’ve actually just taken the bins out.

None of these things are life changing but they do change life.

And I wonder whether that’s where we sometimes get wellbeing wrong.

We spend a lot of time looking for big solutions, big breakthroughs, big transformations. Meanwhile, some of the things that support our wellbeing are wonderfully ordinary.

Connection.
Laughter.
Feeling seen.
Feeling safe.
Moments of joy.

The small things that quietly remind us we’re human.

Working in schools, I see this all the time as children rarely talk about emotional wellbeing in the way adults do.
They certainly don’t usually mention interventions, therapeutic approaches, or emotional regulation strategies. They talk about how something feels. Whether somebody was kind. Whether they felt included. Whether someone listened. Whether a therapy dog sat beside them when they needed it. Whether the day felt less spiky.

Perhaps that’s why that comment stayed with me.

Not because it was complicated. But because it wasn’t.

It was simple. Honest.

And probably true for more of us than we’d like to admit.

As Lola’s birthday approaches this weekend, I think that’s my third reason to be cheerful.

Life is still full of things that soften the edges, we just don’t always notice them.

Lola does.

Usually at high speed, heading directly towards a puddle.

Let’s all be a bit more Lola!