CHERISH THE ORDINARY

I have learned to like right now.  When I once discovered that I was wasting my life some two decades ago by wishing and wanting more, a totally new world unfolded. Gratitude for the now is surely a treasureable moment.

Strangely, it seems that complaint can partner and then disrupt any decent day. There doesn't seem to be enough skill, or time, or money.  Focus upon lack robs the joy of the sufficient.

One can think of such unfairness in one area without noticing that both arms work...until the stroke.  And then...and then the unfairness matter loses immediate attention as we are now so wishing the arm would come back as it was.  We become bugged by ten things in our day that didn't pan out as we had wished without noticing we were able, still, to swallow our food, drive our cars, read the paper, hear the radio, and go to the bathroom.

Cherish the ordinary.

Brene' Brown calls to our attention this important facet of our ordinary days.  In many instances, we equate ordinary with boring or, even more dangerous, ordinary has become synonymous with meaningless.

I think I learned the most about the value of ordinary from interviewing men and women who have experienced tremendous loss such as the loss of a child, violence, genocide, and trauma.  The memories that they held most sacred were the ordinary, everyday moments.

When we fail to cherish the ordinary we begin to waste our lives.  Attention to our aging face, our over-weight, our limited range of influence, and perpetual need for money are at least four thieves; each screaming from sunrise to sunset about lack.

These and others succeed only because we give them permission to abuse us at will. The solution is to be attentive to the power of the grateful moment.

We are not to be bugged because so many calls come in.  We are to be thrilled we can still hear the phone ring.

We are not to fret because the kids eat us out of house and home.  Overjoy hits because our kids are growing and normal.

We are not to be dismayed because prices rise.  We are to be grateful we have abundant selection.

We are not to be frustrated by the discovery of illness.  We are to lavish in the truth that the medical field did not shut down exploration twenty years ago.

We are not to be whining that there are not enough hours in the day.  Rather, we are to praise God that we can drive the car all those places, pay the bills for all those in the family, and still find ourselves upright and energetic.

Decide.  Decide to cherish the ordinary.  Men, women, and children are suffering from a terrible (yet acceptable and unnoticed by the masses) disease called ingratitude for the simplest of gigantic blessings.  Stop complaining, whining, and/or sighing.

Treasure right now.

Don't you love it?