We recently had a decent snow fall on the perfect day, one with no school, no work, and absolutely no plans for the day. By the time late morning came around my husband randomly said let’s go sledding and both me and our seven year old answered with an enthusiastic yes!
After layering up and driving to the nearest hill, we take a few turns heading sledding down with plenty of other families from our area. A few rounds in and I’m taking my turn heading down the hill with my son waiting for me at the bottom and I realize I’m actually having so much fun that I’m laughing without even realizing it. My mind cleared of absolutely everything else, every worry, every thought about the ever present to do list or what the heck is for dinner and do we have everything we need to make it? Cleared and just feelings of sheer joy in its place.
And damn did that feel good! So good that it had me wondering when was the last time I felt like this and why don’t we experience these moments more often?!
I’m a self professed worrier which can be really frustrating not only to myself, but to my family too. Getting out of my own head is sometimes a challenge, but a necessary one if I’m going to save myself some emotional energy. Two years ago I used a daily gratitude journal to ground myself, writing down three things each day that I was grateful for. This year I’m trying something new – reflecting on the week and thinking what are at least three things that made me smile this week! Here’s my list I noted from last week:
– Sledding down that hill and enjoying that time together with my husband and son.
– Overhearing one of the little bit older teammates on my son’s swim team telling him good race after practice.
– As my son walked in from school, I asked him how his day was and he answered with a genuine “it was perfect!” without an ounce of sarcasm.
Life in the Ordinary 