No surprise that in November, protocol requires me to write a thanksgiving post. I love November because everyone acknowledges things they’re thankful for. Today that is me.
As much as I try to be Mrs. Positive Pants everyday, sometimes that is so stinkin’ hard. It’s a little easier in November because lots of people try to be Mrs., Miss, or Mr. Positive Pants, and I feed off the positive energy like a leech. So here I am, hoping to feed you some jolly juice, my fellow Leech, you.
There are the big things…family, my tiny home, my ability to pay for said home, friends, good weather…
I am so in love with my life, even as I struggle to make it better. I think this is possible because I figured a few things out. First of all, I know that I strive for worthwhile goals. The past five years have been so enlightening for me. In some aspects, I feel like I didn’t really start living MY life until then. So now, I’m a 30-year-old goal seeker, and I’m just fine with that. Sure I wish I would have been one of those people who figured things out in high school or something. Who wouldn’t? But instead of dwelling on all the lost opportunities(which benefits nothing, I found out), I’m trying to make the time I have left so very meaningful. Being a mom helped me realize how much I can squeeze into one day. I told a friend of mine just recently that I didn’t know how lazy I was until I had Blue. You don’t have to have a kid, however, to be aware of how you spend your time.
Secondly, I’m finally my own person. I care about other people, true, but their words and opinions don’t rule me, and this…this is freeing in a way I never expected. At Blue’s birthday party, I was able to tell someone close to me that I didn’t want multiple pictures of every, single gift as he “opened” it. As someone who has been to multiple kid birthday parties, I didn’t want to torture my guests in that way. There are so many other ways, like making them watch my kid splatter cake all over himself and others for twenty minutes while I hold the food hostage until he’s done. The point is, even though the person was obviously sad about not being a photographer for a day, It didn’t cripple me to tell them to sit down and enjoy the show. It’s my son’s party, gift time is awkward, and I didn’t want to prolong the awkward moment. The end. I would have said nothing or worried my head off about what the person felt after I did say something 6 years ago.
So, between a loving, supportive family, worthy goals, and being unabashedly Me, I am the happiest and the most thankful I’ve every been in my life.
I don’t want to lie to you.
Bad things happen.
To me, to people I love, to people I barely like.
But because of those Big Things I grasp like a winning lottery ticket, I am able to deal and still be smiling at the end of it.
When bad things happen to people I love, people I barely like, and even people I kinda don’t like, I try to be that supportive person I know they don’t have because, if they did, they wouldn’t be talking to me.
So there’s that.
There are little Happies, too!! Oh, good gracious, aren’t there!!
Today, my attitude completely changed because I popped a bag of salt and lime natural popcorn. It AMAZED me. Suddenly, I saw flowers everywhere. Birds sang on my shoulder. Bunnies frolicked in the breezeway.
And it dawned on me:
I could be this happy everyday if there was enough salt and lime popcorn in my desk drawer!
No. That’s not right.
I could be this happy everyday if I let the happy small stuff do their thing.
Let yourself laugh out loud at that funny quote, Mea. Don’t be a professional robot.
It’s okay that you like to scotch tape mailouts closed, Mea. You work in an OFFICE and don’t even have to pay for office supplies, so really, you’re a winner.
And if salt and lime popcorn can make birds sing, share.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Mea Smith 