Small Things

Have you ever noticed that it is the small things in life that often annoy us or delight us?  Like a rock in your shoe...wow, it can be a pebble smaller than a black-eyed pea and it feels like a boulder in there until you get it out.  Or, sitting outside having a drink of your choice as you watch the day give way to darkness...how incredible is that?

I walk 2 miles each morning and come back home a bit more tired and sweaty than when I began.  Each day I take a shower and then make my breakfast--the same one day after day (I like that routine)--oatmeal with fruit, usually blueberries and a banana, crowned with some yogurt, a piece of whole wheat toast with a bit of jam on it, and some orange juice to wash it all down.  Most days when I sit down to eat breakfast after expending all that energy of walking and getting refreshed with my shower, I think that my oatmeal is the best thing I have ever eaten.  Many would find that meal monotonous and boring but I enjoy it a great deal at that particular time each day.

It is the little things in life that bring us pleasure.  I would rather sit in my backyard at sunrise or sunset and watch the birds and squirrels than spend a day at an amusement park.  I would rather dip my foot in the water at a lake or on a beach where many do not go than walk the streets of a large city.  It is not that I never go the city but once my activities there are accomplished, I am very glad to be back home in the backyard watching the animals at play.  I love going to cities but would rather not live in one day after day.  I am so fortunate to live in a town of 2000 people that is 1 to 1 1/2 hours away from three major cities.  After spending time in one of them, I can be back home in the peace and quiet of rural Texas very soon.

The small things in life satisfy us because they bring back pleasurable memories that are based on relationships, most of the time.  They remind us of good times we had with those whom we love or have loved.  They make us glad to be where we are rather than striving to be elsewhere.  They speak to our spirits  in ways that are mysterious and subtle.  They whisper our names as we listen to the wind or the chirping of the birds.

St. Francis of Assisi wrote of kinship with nature.  There is something about it that renews our spirits and fills us with energy necessary to go ahead with our lives' plans.  Life is a balancing act and when we are in balance, we know it.  When we get out of balance...well, usually it is because of those annoying small things in life such as that rock in your shoe that you have to get out.  Deal with those, and you can get back to enjoying the other things that speak to your spirit.