“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” — Lord Byron
The Extraordinary In Everyday Life
I am going to confess something today. I hesitate to do it for when I do folks will be drawing up petitions to send me away to a home. It will be established that I am infantile, that I am pixilated and should be removed from circulation. But I am feeling daring so I choose to risk it.
I have always been this way. I can recall my early childhood and it was the simplest pleasures that I enjoyed the most—the sound when the ice cream cart could be heard coming a block or so away, a kitten or my small puppy sleeping in my lap, the way the chimney sweeps would circle at night before sundown, the smell of the pink roses that grew on our pitiful fence. All these very simple things brought me great pleasure, made me truly happy.
But of all these pleasures, the ones that took my breath away were the ones that were a surprise and not part of the routine of life. I can tell you specifically when I most vividly recall gasping from surprise and happiness simultaneously—it was in the movie, THE WIZARD OF OZ. I’d bet you can anticipate that this happened when Dorothy opened the door to Munchkin Land and the screen was suddenly flooded with
T E C H N I C O L O R! I know I must have gasped and from that point on I have enjoyed the small unexpected and happy surprises Life can hand out.
I can run across them in the most unexpected places, like in a cardboard box I received recently. The first time I ever ordered from Bath and Body Works* just such a thing happened. First I must divulge that they had me when I saw the outside of the box, already feeling great because it contained the simple phrase “Hooray, It’s Delivery Day.” So I feverishly opened it with my box cutter to find . . . drum roll, please—a blue and white gingham checked interior!!! And, I gasped. It was so magical, so unexpected--I was exhilarated!
**
See what I mean?!!!
It truly is the small and happily surprising things in life that are magical. Think about it when you encounter a flash of color, or a wafting whiff of something wonderful that might be your favorite smell—cookies baking, that rose, a great cup of coffee brewing. Just stop for a second and enjoy the surprise—a favorite small thing in your life that suddenly, unexpectedly just popped up. It can make your day, I promise.
(Now I can hear the villagers outside with their pitchforks so I am going to pack for “the home” and I’m taking my stuff in my box with the checked interior!)
=======================The Small Things In Life=======================
For great things do not just happen by impulse but are a succession of small things linked together. Vincent Van Gogh
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. Robert Breault
* Bath and Body Works at https://www.bathandbodyworks.com/ (by the way, they have great products and sales! (and I wasn't paid to endorse them.)
** image from wallpapersafari.com
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