These were words said to me a few years ago. I recall the phone conversation and my friend’s response to my disbelief that life was knocking me down so hard sometimes were just those words… life is a series of organize, chaos and repeat. I mean come on…wiser words have never been said. So, here we are in the middle of something we never thought we would experience in our lifetime. This something we are in is so archaic and so very vast that I think we aren’t able to really wrap our heads around it. This pandemic gives us anxiety and loneliness. It gives us pressure and drains us. It’s challenging but we can find some silver lining in our days. We are with our loved ones, we have a roof over our heads, we can still go to the store and get food. The sun rises and sets and is making the earth come alive again (except I saw pictures of snow today on social media). Finding the silver lining takes practice. So I challenge you to try when you wake or when you lay down to find three things you felt good about or that brought joy to your day. If you can do that you will start your day or end your day with a smile for sure and smiles actually release good endorphins in your body.
Since I wrote last so many things have happened, there is no sense in bringing them back to life within these pages. What matters is that we are still here. Still moving forward. Still finding gratitude. Still. One of the previous posts I wrote I reread when I sat down here. The part about some days being more challenging than others really stuck with me. Even if the day is challenging you must try to find joy. There is joy in the gardens, joy in the sky, joy in your animals if you have them. There is joy in the fact that you rose out of bed this morning. Think about all the lives lost and be grateful you can take a deep breath.
What makes people fell better in times of chaos and strife? Perhaps we should all be doing something for someone else. Something small, something meaningful, something that both people benefit from. It’s actually amazing if you start doing things for other people how you will feel. Call it random acts of kindness if you need to, even if it’s for people under your roof.
Some of these days can feel like we accomplish nothing. That is where I am today. I look around and think- what did I do? I did something for work. I helped my kids with something. I took and iPad to my parents house so they can face time us. I did some laundry. Worked with a dog a little bit on sitting. Something that really made me smile was driving you a friends house for a surprise. I called her and said, look in your driveway… we laughed and she came out and we talked for a few minutes. The shining spot of gratitude for the moment. I feel very disconnected. My work isn’t something I can do online or even keep connected to the kids online, and honestly that is not the best form of connection anyways. Tomorrow will come and I will have a list of things I want to do. Tomorrow will come and I hope that I will not feel like I do right now. My plants have asked to be repotted. My kids want to make a sign for the mailman of appreciation. The sun is supposed to shine. Speaking of sun….I have found that sunny days are harder to be in the lock down phase. Not that I don’t like the sun or want to go outside. We go for drives sometimes to break up the day. Rainy days just seem to make being stuck more tolerable. It’s a conundrum I suppose. All the rain makes for many muddy paws and a dirty kitchen floor. All of which keeps life interesting.
Dinner prep is calling me…I will try to write some more and not be so missing like I was since the last post. Sometimes life just pulls you in many directions and we get a little lost. We just have to find the path and get back on it but also enjoy the scenery along the way.
Peace, love, and chaos. We will get through this.