Do you ever have a day where the beauty of your life hits you all at once? Where all of the wonderful, fascinating details scream at you, "Look at me!" and you actually sit up and take notice? Where the problems don't seem as big as they were the day before, where the small things make you ridiculously happy? I woke up this morning feeling optimistic and joyful, euphoric even. There's no real reason for it. It's still cold, half the people I know are sick in some way (sinus infections, stomach upsets, influenza) and overall this week wasn't the greatest. I was exhausted for most of it and thinking that I was fighting off a cold myself and unable to take time off work if I had really needed to, adding to the stress. But, none of that matters today. I got a good night's sleep and woke up to my pets being loving and wonderful. I started my walk to work thinking that, overall, my life is amazing. It has little moments of dissatisfaction, like when I see pictures of places I'd like to travel to and realize that instead, I'm stuck in my office. Or lately, any picture of a beach makes me ache with longing to be there, in the warmth and sunshine and salty ocean. But you know what? I'm working toward my goals. I'm working to make my life, my shared life with Shane, to be what I/we want. That is a beautiful, wonderful thing, and I am so incredibly lucky.
On my walk to work, I got to see this:
I was even a bit early so I could stand there and appreciate it for a few minutes, guilt-free. How many other people around here got to enjoy that sunrise? How many were taking their time and got to really
see it?
When I got to work, after taking care of a few details, I opened Facebook and found
this article about empathy, courtesy of my friend Hannah. It's beautiful and if you haven't read it yet, you should.
Today, I am at peace with the world, and I wish the same for all of you.
I had a morning like this on my bike a couple of weeks ago. I was riding along the waterfront in Seattle and the fog had rolled in. I couldn't see the Olympics, but the dawn was coloring the morning and obscuring the line between see and sky. The only thing I could see out on the water was a Ferry steaming out of the mist. That really had me thinking about how much you miss when driving a car. I probably wouldn't have noticed any of it. Glad you had a great day.
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