Learning to Appreciate small joys, Brings bigger Joys

When the dull drab grey, of winter finally melts into spring, my eyes and heart search for colors. Though the eye of the beholder, even the dandelion weeds look beautiful! Spots of bright yellow blooming in the grass; (especially if it’s someone else’s grass, full of dandelions) it awakes my spirit and brings a smile of to my face. I LOVE SPRING! I think it’s finally here!

Lately, we are enjoying the plethora of spring flowers and colors, but every wonderful season has its down side. With spring, comes pollen.

This is the time of Year; we laughingly call “Cotton Season”. It has earned that title because, it is the time when the sneezing starts and the neighbors consider us the “scourge”. Our enormous, beautiful, shady, backyard, cottonwood, trees fulfill their potential, by producing enough cotton to stuff every mattress in town. It rolls around the yard and neighborhood. It waits like a kitten at the front door, at the garage door, at any opening, seeking just a crack of opportunity to pounce into the sanctity of our home. It covers our entire yard with a carpet of white for two weeks. Yet! All summer that shade from those big trees, is heaven.

As I thought about the irony of life, I remembered a beautiful puzzle I had as a little girl growing up on the family farm. The picture was that of a spring day on a farm. The mountains were topped with snow, but the trees were in blossom. An old blue tractor plows the brown dirt and seagulls fly over the fields watching for the unlucky worm. The whole picture was that of a perfect spring farm day. All seemed right, in that frozen moment. I loved that picture puzzle. If I actually pulled up my personal memories of my days as a child, I would remember that those spring days were cold, the mud was wet, and we were all mad because we had to work on Saturday. The puzzle represented to me, the “best memories”, as seen though a different sight.

Families tend to be sloppy; some of the puzzle pieces got lost or ruined. Without those lost pieces, the picture wasn’t the same, it wasn’t perfect, and of course the puzzle was tossed long ago. The picture is still in my head. It still brings me peace.

Later, when I taught preschool, I used this story as an object lesson about taking care of things. Now, years and years later, it feels that it might be more of an object lesson about our memories of life and relationships. The truth is, if the mental picture memory or photo brings us even partial joy, we can focus on what is still remaining of the puzzle, not what pieces are lost.

Is there a moral to these stories? Do they tie together? Yes! I hope you see it. Beauty is in the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, but , first you must view life, with an EYE TO SEE BEAUTY in everything.

Life isn’t about perfection of anything. Happiness comes to us, when we find comfort in, and focus on, the joy of a “PERFECT MOMENT” or a “PERFECT FEELING”. Take the time to….. RECOGNIZE IT!....... REMEMBER IT! ……… RELISH IT!

Cherries have pits, roses have thorns, good people do stupid things, babies wear diapers, nothing worth having comes easy, and beautiful spring has allergies. Take a deep breath! Forgive! Let go of anger, frustration and regrets! See the perfect picture despite the missing pieces! Take an allergy pill!

Don’t miss a moment of exhilarating appreciation and gratitude for even the smallest purrrfect moment.