How often do you feel like you don’t have enough? Of course, no one will blatantly admit such selfish thoughts, but you have to admit, there have been times where it seems like others seem to be having the pleasant life you would want to live. But how often do you address the people who may actually not have enough?

We don’t notice it, but there are a lot of people who work very hard to get to the position they’re in. It seems so easy for some to make it on to a sports team or become first chair in orchestra, but the struggle and talent behind this is all taken for granted and eventually forgotten about.

Take the “Violinist in the Metro” experiment, a social psychology experiment. In this experiment, Joshua Bell, the world famous acclaimed violinist, plays in the corner of a Metro subway station in order to get some heartfelt tips. The results were surprising. Most of the passengers just walked by hurridley without noticing Bell’s presence or his music. One middle aged man did notice, but only stopped for a second before rushing back to his hurried schedule. A minute later, a woman threw in a dollar into his open case, but without looking back at him or bothering to stop. Only about six or so people stopped and stayed to actually listen to his music, and the one who gave him the most attention was a three-year-old boy who kept looking at Bell— the same happened for many other kids as well. But their rushed parents made them walk to the next station before the children could actually stop to listen to the music. Bell’s 45 minutes of his beautiful concerto ended with $35 and no applause.

No one that day realized that this was Joshua Bell playing in the subway, Bell, who was famous for playing some of the most intricate pieces written for violin, the owner of a 3.5 million dollar violin, the musician who played at sold-out concerts with seats priced at over $100.

What does this show about human social behavior? People often don’t realize when to find and appreciate the beauty found around them in others or even in themselves because they’re so caught up in their own errands they simply can’t find the time for it all. The conclusion is, if people can’t stop to listen to one of the best musicians playing the best pieces ever written, then how many things are we missing overall?

We’re so caught up in quizzes, tests, homework, projects, and grades, we often forget there’s more to life than that. We need to take a moment to look around and appreciate how far we’ve come, instead of looking down at ourselves wondering if we could ever do anything right.

Take Bell’s experiment as a lesson. Appreciate even the smallest things around you, because you don’t know how big of an impact it may have on your life. Participate in events, join clubs, spend time with your friends. Let yourself see that there’s more to life, but only if you choose to see it that way.