MY JEANS ARE TOO TIGHT

Snap, crackle, pop is not just about a cereal ad, but the definition of my aging changing body. Getting older is not the picnic I had planned. It’s more like “potluck”. You take what you get; extra pounds, creaky joints and uninvited wrinkles.

I was feeling so frustrated at the changes in my body as I age.

The other day I put on a pair of jeans, just back from the laundry. They seemed very tight. How had I put on so much weight over the weekend? Perhaps they had shrunk in the drier! They weren’t new! They had been washed many, many times before, but now I was struggling to get the zipper up, and struggling even more to breathe, once the zipper was up. I undid the top button, put on a long baggy shirt, and dragged my husband out for a fast walk about the big block. I skipped dinner that night and vowed to “be” better.

The next morning I dug out a pair of old faded jeans of real comfort. As I folded up and prepared to pack away the jeans I had struggled to get into just the day before, I paused this time to notice the size of the jeans and realized they were my daughter’s jeans. Somehow they had gotten mixed into my laundry.

What a relief! I celebrated with a piece of chocolate!

After all! I had gotten into jeans that were two sizes smaller than I usually wear.

Miracles maybe rare, this was no miracle, but “THANK GOODNESS FOR SMALL FAVORS!” They happen daily!

..The time the kids do their homework without being asked. ..The days that potty training works.

..The lonely night that a friend calls, just because they were thinking about you.

..Or the day you happened to be in the right place to help someone else and you were their miracle or small favor.

That can feel as good as being helped yourself, even better.

If you notice and appreciate, even relish those moments, and give them more credence than the negative moments, somehow the bumps and pot holes in life don’t seem to be so deep. Sometimes you even glide by them with ease.

Sometimes a SMALL FAVOR is just realizing, we are better off than we thought.

If you have a pile of dirty laundry — you know your family has not been without clothing.

If you have a lawn to mow or sidewalk to shovel — you are blessed to have a home to live in.

If your kid’s video games are driving you nuts — you are probably blessed with many luxuries because you have electricity, water and heat.



If you feel the aches and pains of aging — you have been

blessed with life, a body and lots of experiences.

If you have a few extra pounds and your jeans are too

tight — you know you haven’t had to starve.

SEE AND APPRECIATE THE SIMPLIEST THINGS!

Your life is crammed with “small-favors”.

AS YOUR ATTITUDE CHANGES TO SEE THE “GOODNESS”, YOUR LIFE WILL BRING YOU MORE “GOOD THINGS”.

REALIZE, GOOD THINGS ARE SOMETIMES IN THE SMALL PRINT.