1. You get your hands in the dirt. Now that spring has sprung in Washington, the toddler and I have been outside nearly every day this past week weeding out the garden beds in the back to get them ready for planting. It’s the one-year-old’s first time getting her hands in the soil and although she has a miniature garden hand shovel and hoe of her own, she, of course, prefers using all her strength to poke and prod the earth with the adult-sized versions. Uncovering the richer, darker soil beneath the surface is beautiful and therapeutic, clearing the mind. Now that the beds are cleared of weeds, I dug, watered and planted the first produce of the season: cilantro, garlic and red cabbage. Here’s hoping the bunnies leave my tender little leaves alone!
2. You get to walk in the sunshine. Take a break. Let your mind wonder and your legs stretch. Enjoy the blossoms on the trees, and the sights and sounds around you after being cooped up in the house all winter. Enough said.
3. You clear out your closets or your cupboards and donate your items, hopefully to a good cause. Clothes that you don’t fit into or just don’t wear anymore, give away! Children’s items that you never used and never plan to use because you have better ones, donate to the local pregnancy aid center’s baby boutique and help other first-time moms. Leave the bags behind and go away feeling lighter, because in the end, less is more.
4. On the other hand, when there is something you need, a good day is when you can shop for just about anything on the amazing Amazon phenomenon online and have it delivered for free and straight to your doorstep within 2 days! You never even need to leave the house or drive from store to store and search through numerous store aisles to compare and select the best quality or the best deal but can do so from the comfort of your couch. Needless to say, as a new mom, I fell in love with Amazon when shopping meant packing up a diaper bag and baby formula and bottles and getting the infant in the car seat and lugging everything into a store and back to the car again. Thank you, Amazon.
5. A mediocre day can turn into a glorious one when a stranger stops to offer you help or to say a kind word. Today a friendly passerby in the Fred Meyer parking lot saw pregnant me holding a toddler and unloading bags into the back of the car. His smiling face appeared suddenly out of nowhere beside me and offered me a hand loading my bags and boxes of starter plants I’d just purchased into the trunk. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for being so kind. Or the other day, as I was going about my business filling the gas tank, not thinking anything inspiring of note, the customer lady behind me shouted out, “You look beautiful!” She was commenting on my final trimester pregnancy glow – of all places, at an ugly gas station– and so out of the blue we shared a lovely little chat about babies and kids, and she sent me on my way saying, “Many blessings to you!”
Many blessings to you...yes, when I start to count the ways a person can be blessed in one day, I feel happier and lighter. A plain old day that may seem as insignificant as a one-cent penny in your coin purse suddenly takes on worth because that one-cent is gleaming so newly minted, shiny, coppery bright.
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