Wow, folks! Here we are!! I can’t believe I really did it!! I have successfully completed this little challenge of mine: writing for 30 days straight, seeking beauty in small moments, rekindling a spirit of gratitude amidst the dumpster fire of a year this has been, inserting some control into the chaos of my life and dusting off old habits. Some of you have joined along with me and have participated in posting, which has been a dream to watch, learn from, and get inspired by. Others have silently been reading along, looking for their own moments and I’ve gotten some beautiful texts, phone calls, DMs and emails from friends and strangers to say thank you, saying that they looked forward to reading these posts each day and that they appreciated the reminder to reframe some of their own life stories to find the good. To those who reached out, either by way of comments or shares or likes or notes, thank you. That really means the world… I cannot even begin to express my deep gratitude for your support and connection.
Some things I learned from this experience:
- Some days I had multiple moments of joy and gratitude, where my cup runneth over, I had ample choices to choose from, beautiful stories of happiness remaining unwritten from the glut of good I am so lucky to possess. Other days, I had to reaaaaaally look hard… through the unfolded laundry and kid fights and whining humans and the background echo of online schooling, and and and. But always, always, there was something. Even if it was ooone little second of sweet. There was always one moment to really be grateful for.
- Flexing your gratitude muscle is an important exercise and the more we do it the easier it becomes to find good, even if your life is spinning on its head.
- I need to ask people next time to tag @thegiftofmoments (I thought the hashtag would connect me, but I know I missed several, and it was only when I went looking that I found them). If you posted and I didn’t see it, please tag me!
- You never ever know, just when and how someone is watching you, in your day to day life or online. The things that you say, the sentiments that you share, the energy you bring to sports sidelines, to the checkout person at a grocery store, the car in front of you on the road… even when you think you’re living in a vacuum of isolation during this pandemic…people can see you and feel you and your vibe can bring people up, or bring people down. You never know who you might be modeling strength for, or kindness, or good parenting (and the opposite is true as well). Sometimes it’s hard, especially in these circumstances. But choose kind. Choose smiles. Extend grace to people on the road, at your work, on the playground. You never know who needs your version of good….but people are out there, right now, who are looking to you for inspiration. Search for the beauty. Be the beauty. I promise it’s there. It’s in you, too.
My moment for the day today was a brief one during a sun shower. It was a rainy gray morning, and then the sun came out. Then more sprinkles, then some sun. And then, for a period, the sun was shining bright, but the rain came twinkling down. It was such a perfect encapsulation of this whole thirty day experience for me. My mood today was sad. I am missing friends who have moved away during this pandemic and also steadying myself to say goodbye to my person in a few weeks. I’ve been feeling abandoned a bit (dramatic, I know, but it was rainy and gray, so stay with me). One goodbye I knew about for many months and we pre-mourned daily together. Another I found out about the day after I said goodbye to the first. And the third happened quick and it came out of left field. All goodbyes are beautiful and hard but I know my friends are on the right paths for them and I am supporting them as best I can. My heart also aches. I am cheering for them through tears.
Today as the rain fell and the sun bathed, I realized: this is life. It’s okay to feel everything, some days, all at once. To see the good, but also acknowledge the sad. And sometimes it comes in one fell swoop, at the same time, in the same day. The ups and downs, the highs and lows. And so it was today. I had a good cry (a couple, actually). I got to see my friend who is leaving for a few minutes and cry with her too. Then the sun came out and the sun set and the moon rose and my husband and I walked a few blocks in our neighborhood and sat around the fire with dear friends and laughed until the wee hours. A first in this pandemic. My husband and I haven’t left our house for a night out since March.
Some things in this life are hard. But I have my health, for the moment. I have a happy marriage, for the moment. I have four beautiful children who more are less like having me around, for the moment. I have a home and a roof over my head, for the moment. I have my vision and my hearing and my parents and clothes in my closet, for the moment. The moment is all we have.
In life, there are beginnings in the endings. There is good and there is not so good. There is joy and there is ache. There is sunshine and there is rain. It is simply up to us to decide whether or not to look for a rainbow.
Care to share your thoughts?