Spring Showers in Fall

This past weekend I did something that I really should do more often. I took some time to step back and really take stock of my present everyday life and realized that - holy crap I absolutely love where I am right now! There have been many times in the past where I've "counted my blessings", but it was always out of necessity.  It was always done at a time when I was so miserable that I needed to find good things to cling to. This time was different.  It was just an instant realization that suddenly washed over me and filled me with hope, completely unprovoked, like a spring shower that comes quickly out of nowhere and then just as rapidly dissipates, leaving the world a little cleaner and brighter in its wake.



Yeah, I know....sappy huh?



Well, sometimes ya just need the sappy I guess.



So, here is my spring shower list, in no particular order and most likely incomplete, of the things that make my days a little brighter, cleaner, and shinier than they have been in many many years:

• I have two absolutely beautiful children who unwittingly spend every minute of every day reminding me of what's really important; bear hugs, wet sloppy kisses, belly laughs, reckless unabashed dancing, big satisfying puddle-jumps, and quiet contented snuggles.

• I'm afforded the opportunity to be at home, enjoying them just for being them and concentrating on molding them into the people I want them to be.  Sure, the car is falling apart, the bills are sometimes late, and vacations aren't within our reach, but there's food in the pantry and we're absolutely overflowing and rich with the other, more essential stuff.

• I have an amazing man who loves me for who and what I am rather than what I can do for him.  Who takes the time every single day to tell me I'm beautiful, even when I've been in the same pajamas for a week. Who works his ass off day in and day out to provide me the freedom to be here with my children every day.  Who has handed me the ability to love freely without fear, confident in the fact that I will receive that love right back ten-fold. Who has always loved, cherished, and generally treated my daughter as if she were his own, even before we were romantically involved.

• I have an entire network of extraordinary friends, both old and new, who forgive my discrepancies and appreciate me as I am.  They make me laugh when I want to laugh, and they offer a shoulder when I need to cry. I'm extremely lucky in the number of quality friendships I have; they're like an army that are always somehow fighting for me in a myriad of different ways.

As I string these words together; set them down in black and white, I can feel the stresses and worries of everyday life just shrinking and getting smaller and smaller in my mind.  It's an amazing feeling.  It's like a big comforting blanket; you know the kind of blanket I'm talking about.  The one that you can just immerse yourself in and all the pain, hurt and anguish you've ever felt will just float away. For once, it's just nice to know that I'm no longer using that blanket to hide from my life; I'm using it to snuggle up and embrace it.





So, what about you?  Have you taken the time recently to just be grateful for your little showers?