I have been meditating on life recently — why we go through what we do, or if there is any purpose behind our suffering. These thoughts are probably familiar to most of us, and personally, I’ve never really found answers. But I think I might have found part of one.

I recently learned that Starbucks closed at 2 p.m. And it was really disappointing. I had hyped myself up for some coffee and schoolwork. But, by the time I went to open the door, it was already closed. The walk wasn’t the nicest either. It was cold, rainy and windy. This happens to be my favorite weather, but it isn’t exactly favorable for walking.

But I still smiled. Laughed, even. Because next to me during this were my friends. The three of us shared our grievances and made another plan. We picked up coffee from a vending machine and then went to Claver House because, at least there, we could stay and work as long as we wanted to. It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as our original plan, but I wasn’t upset. I was actually quite content with how the day turned out.

After my afternoon in Claver, I started thinking about other unintentionally fulfilling moments. Like the time when I didn’t want to do my laundry, so my friends and I decided to do it as a group to make it less painful and to keep each other accountable. Or, the day when I felt like I couldn’t do anything right, and my friends and I spent half an hour together before bed. Despite that pretty awful day, I went to bed with a smile on my face. Or the mornings when my roommate and I chat while we are waking up and getting ready for the day. These moments always help brighten my mood, even if I’ve woken up late or slept terribly the night before.

And the small things make me feel this way, too. I pass a friend every Tuesday and Thursday between classes, and we always say hi to each other. I sit next to a really nice person in economics class, and we always chat for a few minutes before it starts.

It’s all these shared moments in time that make the difference in my life. They don’t always last long, but they stay with me. They keep me company during long, quiet hours spent studying or staring into the void. Perhaps they are merely small parts of our lives that don’t actually matter in the grand scheme of things. But to me, at least, they do matter.

All of these moments, big and small, give life meaning, joy and hope. It may be cheesy, but these connections, for me, justify the pain and lows in life. They add goodness and purpose, I just had to take the time to look around and see them.