All The Small Things

As I get older, I realize more and more that it is all the small things in life that truly matter.  Those little moments of the day that bring  joy, happiness and laughter, times spent with those who are most special to us.

This morning I was feeling a bit blue.  There isn’t anything really, in particular, that caused this feeling …no, it was just there, as it is sometimes.   It comes and it goes, and when it happens I sometimes find myself giving in to it, thinking of all the things in my life I do not have.  My thoughts wander to all that I did not do in my life, or of all that I did do …wrong.  When those negative feelings start to take hold I must remind myself of all the wonderful things that I do have and sometimes this is not always easy.

It is hard being a single mom.  It is just me, no significant other to help support and lean on.  No partner to help out financially or otherwise …nope, it is just me.  I am all we have, my son and I.  If something happens, if I were to lose my job for instance, it is all on me.  It can be very stressful and tough at times.  Especially on those days where the blues come flooding in.  There are times that I look around and see all the happy couples, the newlyweds, the couples married for years and still in love, the couples with more; the big homes, the nice cars, the big vacations, etc. and I wish that it were me, wonder why it is not me and why I do not have those things and someone to share my life with.  But then something will happen to put everything into perspective.

I was talking to a dear friend of mine the other day.  This friend of mine has cancer.  She was originally diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy and had her breast rebuilt after.  For years she was cancer free and now it has come back, in the worse way.  She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  The cancer has  also spread to her bones and lymph nodes.  It is not good …cancer never is.  Her struggles make mine seem so minor in comparison.  As I certainly am there for my friend to help her in any way I can, as she battles this monster, there is also something I can do for me.  I can live my life happy.  I can choose to get up each day and say today is going to be a good day.  I have the power to make it so.  I can stop and think and realize it truly is the small things, the things we miss, take for granite, in our every day life that make us happy.

As I drove home after work, I thought of my friend, her life and mine.  How our paths at one time were so similar, and now have each taken such a different turn.  I thought about how lucky I was to have my wonderful children and my health.  I am reminded of something that happened on Sunday, something that made me smile.  My son, the teenager, in the kitchen doing the dishes.  He complained  as he was loading the dish washer and it made me chuckle.  You would have thought I asked him to walk 5 miles in the snow.  Teenagers, honestly, are they not totally alien sometimes?  As he was doing the dishes I had a most amusing thought, I would take a picture of this.  Yes folks, I would take a picture of this boy, my son, doing the dishes.  I quietly started snapping, he didn’t like it at first but then he begin to laugh.  Before long we were both laughing.  Yes folks, it is moments like that, the little ones, that make life worthwhile!

 

Here you are …a rarer thing you may not see, a teenager doing the dishes.  😉

 

I came across this quote the other day, not sure who it is by, but I believe it is so true.

“Your friends and family are priceless, your time is gold, and your health is true wealth”

Thanks for reading!