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In Praise of Normal

November 1, 2011 by Joi Leave a Comment

Apple Trees in the Rain

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” – Ashley Smith

We’re all guilty.  Some more so than others, of course, but I can’t imagine that any of us are completely innocent.  We have all, at one time or another, wanted more of this, less of that, or a change in something particular. Many empty-nesters want the birds back and many new moms want to be reacquainted with peace and quiet.

To a certain extent, it’s human nature, but I can’t help thinking that the baby boomer generation – and possibly those after it – excel in the whole “I can go faster and further!” and “I can have more, more, more!” mindsets.  At the risk of sounding like a fuddy duddy, sometimes I just wish everyone would just sit still and breath.

It feels good.

I’ll tell you something else that feels good. Normal.  That’s right, the day to day blissfulness that we sometimes take for granted.  The peacefulness and the chaos, the business and the stillness, the work to do and the play to enjoy.  If you take a good look around at the people, things, and activities in your life you’ll feel a sense of contentment and peace.  If you don’t feel it right away, imagine for a second, that they’ve been taken away.

A few weeks ago, my family and I turned the house, and subsequently our world, upside down. Or at least that’s how it felt.  In actuality, all we did was paint four rooms in our home.  Since all the furniture had to be moved out of the way anyway (and since our cat Alexa’s nerves were already shot), we decided to have our white berber carpets professionally cleaned. Furniture had to be moved into rooms with tile floor and we all had to walk around in damp socks for a few days.

Except for Alexa. She refuses to wear socks.

Several times throughout the whole process, all I wanted was to be in work space – at my computer, with coffee and Alexa nearby.  I craved working on websites, writing articles, and redesigning blogs.  Problem was, I could barely see my computer, let alone get to it.

The day after we were able to put everything back together was one of the most blissful, enjoyable, and happy days of my life.  Nothing much had changed, really.  Nothing had been added to or taken away from my world.  I was just able to see my world as it really is.  Beautiful.

Will I one day again complain if I think my TO DO list has exceeded my WANT TO DO list?  Maybe.  In the distant future.  As it is, I’m just delighted to have slipped back into normal again.  It fits beautifully.

 

Filed Under: Positive Thought Tagged With: contentmen, happiness

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