One of the things I love about Greg is that he makes me laugh, and I have needed to laugh a bit lately because the days have been overcast. Even as the sun shone through the windows there have many moments of sorrow, anger, and worry. I realized that even the graphics I used for the Advent season had been grim with their cold grey backgrounds. But we are resilient creatures; even as we struggle through our battles on a daily basis we have the capacity to watch for, and delight in micro-moments. And I was reminded last week, how many micro-moments there are in a day that are truly fun, beautiful, inspiring, and hopeful.
I began watching for those micro-moments and intentionally delighting in them, and as I did so the pall lifted slightly. So when Greg spun around in the bathroom with a towel around his shoulders, pinned together under his chin with his fingers, and announced he was Superman, I laughed. It was a silly little space in time we could just enjoy. When Kanti chased her tail around and around in the brilliant sunshine, I smiled. Listening to Ten Thousand Reasons for My Heart to Sing made me cry because it was so beautiful. As I hung up the phone from a work call that was filled to the brim with unexpected good news, I squealed. Yes, I did. I sat in my office squealing like our JMH did at Christmas as the excitement of having a stocking filled with treasures, overwhelmed him. He squealed and his little three-year old feet began dancing. The joy, the possibility, the hope filled his little being and I had that same feeling. It was wonderful.
In the wonderfulness of that micro-moment, I wondered when do we stop allowing ourselves to physically enjoy the sensation of joy or hope. We do stop. Sometime, somewhere along our life journey. Maybe we stop when someone tells us it is inappropriate, or we think we have to grow up. But what if for one day you gave yourself permission to physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually enjoy something, anything, just for a micro-moment?
You don't have to get all carried away, just watch and listen for the moments in your day that are good, then celebrate them, and feel them in your bones. The moments will be hiding in the routine and the mundane, watch for them. Let your whole being get involved, just like Kanti does when we come home. She watches the vehicle pull in, then she jumps up and runs to greet us. There is a whole routine and it never changes. She puts her entire body into it. She always includes a few happy-to-see you spins, then she races off on squirrel duty before escorting us into the garage. I'd caution against copying Kanti's expression of joy in public as you may find yourself in a little white-jacket headed for a long visit in a sterile environment. But I am going to encourage you to watch for and celebrate the micro-moments of joy and hope that are around you. Take time to share those moments of joy with someone else, spread the joy!
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| Another moment of joy - the barista made my coffee beautiful! |
In the wonderfulness of that micro-moment, I wondered when do we stop allowing ourselves to physically enjoy the sensation of joy or hope. We do stop. Sometime, somewhere along our life journey. Maybe we stop when someone tells us it is inappropriate, or we think we have to grow up. But what if for one day you gave yourself permission to physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually enjoy something, anything, just for a micro-moment?
You don't have to get all carried away, just watch and listen for the moments in your day that are good, then celebrate them, and feel them in your bones. The moments will be hiding in the routine and the mundane, watch for them. Let your whole being get involved, just like Kanti does when we come home. She watches the vehicle pull in, then she jumps up and runs to greet us. There is a whole routine and it never changes. She puts her entire body into it. She always includes a few happy-to-see you spins, then she races off on squirrel duty before escorting us into the garage. I'd caution against copying Kanti's expression of joy in public as you may find yourself in a little white-jacket headed for a long visit in a sterile environment. But I am going to encourage you to watch for and celebrate the micro-moments of joy and hope that are around you. Take time to share those moments of joy with someone else, spread the joy!
What mundane routine moments did you have last week that were laced with joy and hope?
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