Before You Thought You Weren't

Before you thought you weren't. 

I was at McAllister's the other day to get some of their amazing tea when I noticed a little girl no older than four in front of me. She was jumping up and down thrilled that her meal would include a cookie. I remember when I used to jump up and down about cookies, before I learned about their evil calorie count. 

She was dressed in a black leotard with a black tulle tutu. Her hair was braided around her head and she sported pink glasses and Crocs. She was adorable.  Her demeanor was of assured confidence and you could tell she was loving life. She had not a care in the world and the opinion of others was nowhere on her radar. 

You could tell she was quite proud of her tutu as she spun around in line. It gave me pause, though, when I realized that someday she would not feel so free to be herself. Would she one day question her beauty, and I couldn't help but wonder if that spark would be diminished as she compared herself to girls she deemed more attractive? 

I couldn't help but hope that she would keep that confidence and wouldn't follow in the footsteps of many young girls who simply fade away and let the more beautiful take center stage. 

True Riches

True riches. 

"There are two ways to be rich-one in the abundance of your possessions and the other in the fewness of your wants." E. Stanley Jones seems to have his priorities straight. 

During the course of our lives we place a great emphasis on gathering possessions. We strive for larger homes, add to our collections, and eventually begin to pay a monthly storage bill.  However, eventually, if we live long enough, our possessions will get whittled down to just a few. What once took such a high priority, will no longer matter.

As I have been contemplating what to keep and what to give away I found Jones' quote to be helpful. I like the idea of my life being based more on what I don't want vs always revolving around the next purchase. Perhaps the rule of thumb regarding only bringing something new in by getting rid of something old might result in a less crowded home. I can't help but compare my capacity for ownership to the creature who grows to the size of its container. Choosing to live less large might actually result in choosing the better life. 

Peaceful

Peaceful. 

I used to think that the country was a quiet place. I was mistaken. If you spend any time there you will quickly realize that it is actually quite noisy. Except it's a different kind of noise. 

The buzz of a bee, the call of a mockingbird, the bray of a donkey, the drone of a lone tractor in the distance, and the moo of a momma cow calling her calf all fill the air. But inspite of the noise, it is the peacefulness that most surprises you. Especially if you spend most of your time in the city bombarded by the sounds of urban life. 

The country is the only place where I can sit absolutely still, doing nothing at all and find myself feeling completely peaceful. I don't feel the need to be doing something to keep myself entertained. Just being present in the beauty around me is the best feeling of all. 

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." Aristotle

Photos

Photos. 

It seems that we are a culture of photographers. Now with high quality cameras built into our phones we snap away freely. Hundreds, no more like thousands of photos amass.

Those of us who are highly motivated archive these photos safely away for future reference. Some take great pleasure in creating scrapbooks using photo albums or digital to record precious memories. 

However, back in the day the number of photos taken were limited to the size of the roll of film. Only professional photographers had the luxury of shooting rolls and rolls of film. 

What has happened today is we have become photo hoarders. The quality of photography has so vastly improved that it is actually difficult to take a bad photo. The end result is thousand of photos too good to delete. Just like too much stuff, you end up with too many photos. 

I'm beginning to think that a much edited amount of photographs might actually end up being more meaningful. I think it might be time to do a photo purge. 

"Life is what happens while you're busy taking pictures." 

Jocelyn de Kwant

Taking the Next Step

Taking the next step. 

I'm really good about thinking of ideas, but not so good about actually acting upon them. Author of Embrace the Chaos, Bob Miglani, teaches, "Sometimes that initial step is all that is required to set in motion a whole new timeline of events..." 

I am finding this to be true. In a recent post I wrote about focusing on solutions instead of problems. Solutions require action, and this often results in a domino effect. You do one thing, and that leads to another and another. 

Before you know it you may have solved your problem. The initial action doesn't even need to be that earth shattering;  it just needs to happen. However, the actions required might result in some hard work on your part. 

Decisions, emotions and physical labor can leave you worn out. But, the satisfaction of the results can make it all worth it in the long run. Don't allow what has been holding you back to get in the way of that initial step. Set in motion the life you really want to live. 

Second Chances

Second chances.

It is not often in life that we get a true second chance. Most of the time we have to settle for the first time around. 

However, what I am discovering is that being a grandparent is like having a second chance. It is the opportunity to experience the most miraculous thing of all, except this time you really get it. 

You are no longer sleep deprived or overwhelmed like you were the first time through.  The full responsibility of child rearing no longer falls on your shoulders. You can drink in the brilliance of your grandchild's smile, brag about their talents, and savor the sweetness of their tiny arms reaching for you. 

While it was no less special the first time around you really didn't grasp the full understanding of how quickly it would all pass by, and how much you would miss it. I once read a book that stated, "Girlhood is short as summer." Those words really stuck with me as I watched my daughter's childhood slip through my fingers. 

Little did I realize that there would be something called grandparenthood that would allow me the blessing of a second chance. 

Guilty

Guilty.

Well apparently the Japanese have a word for it. Tsundoku-is the condition of acquiring reading material but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them.

This describes me perfectly. It has become especially true over the last few years. Now you would think with all the extra time I have on my hands I'd be doing nothing but reading. However, to be truthful I've basically just been collecting them. 

Not only do I purchase books, but I also make weekly trips to the library. Either way there is no way reading all of them is possible. As time goes by the stack on my nightstand teeters precariously, the books in the living room begin to look like clutter, and I struggle to find more room in the bookcase.  

Therefore, because so few books actually get a second glance, let alone read it really makes no sense to own so many. My solution now is to gather them up and donate them back to the library knowing full well that some other unsuspecting soul will fall prey to tsundoku.