Little Things

It’s been a busy week. It’s even been a frustrating one, to be honest. Okay, so not every week is going to be “walking on sunshine” (a song I despise, by the way, but the sentiment is sweet nonetheless) but if I had chosen to write down something wonderful from every day of the past week, I would have racked up at least 7 things to smile about.
At dinner the other night, somehow the conversation began about journaling. Men often have this idea of journaling from hearing about 7th grade girls and their diaries (which my mom must have perused often because she always seemed to know my “secrets”). Sadly, I don’t think boys are encouraged to write anything down except for fantasy teams and birthday wish lists…and they’re missing out because writing helps us process and helps us reflect- while we’re writing and even years later.
My husband mentioned to my son that he journaled while deployed during Desert Storm- every day for 5 months. As much as we think we’ll remember events from every day of our lives, we just don’t unless we are reminded. What did you do last Tuesday? What made you feel happiest last March 4th?   It’s why writing stuff down is so critical. I used to have an app on my phone and somewhere it was lost- probably during a phone upgrade- but every day, I just typed in 3 things I was thankful for. Easy enough. Now, to be fair, I like the old fashioned pen and paper or…shockingly, a blog entry, but find something that works for you. You can write a paragraph or a chapter, a sentence or a word- that’s entirely up to you. But, I can promise you, within a month or so it will become a habit and before you know it, you have a journal. You have a story of events and when you look back on it, you’ll remember the things you jotted down…and you’ll smile. 

So, I’m bummed I didn’t write things down over this last frustrating week but it’s not too late to remember some really nice things so I’ll mention them here. Then, someday in the future, I’ll read this and relive the moments that made me smile.

I had a couple of new dogsitting clients and the owners happened to be incredibly nice people and their dogs were a joy to walk and play with. I had a very impromptu job opportunity (I know, this will be my 3rd at the same time) that will keep me busy from 6am-noon if it all works out. Those are great hours for me but I’ll chat more about that later. I enjoyed a movie with my girlfriend, Enid, who I don’t get to see often enough and who always makes me smile. I had a lunch date with my girlfriend, Deena, who ushered in her 50th birthday this week and we chatted about dogs and being an introvert (I love subjects that I’ve got a lot of experience living out). I chatted with my daughter every day on text which is a comedy show, my son made homemade pizzas for dinner and my dad called yesterday inviting me to come to Ohio for a few days to enjoy the weather. So….I’m not writing down the frustrations today. Nope. I’m writing down the little nuggets of things that made me smile before I forget to really treasure them.

Now, if these little things made me smile, don’t you just want to do the same for someone else?

You can, you know.

Be blessed,
Amy