Renew. Shelve. Check out. Reserve.
Living gratefully today, I give thanks for safe travels (Thanks for driving Darcy!), the beauty of fresh snow on trees, festive family time, and life’s little joylets. (Thanks to my sister Aileen for that fun word—joylets. Small wonders. Tiny tidbits of grace and love. You get the idea.)
I also appreciate the Insight Timer meditation app and teacher David Ji for leading thousands of participants on a “Finding Inner Peace” 7-day challenge. Let peace begin with me. You get the idea.
My six sisters and I often send random texts and a thread begins. On Friday, my sister Leonice shared what she had seen on the side of a truck from the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon: “Renew your wonder.” This inspired Aileen to create these:
Shelve your cynicism.
Check out curiosity.
Reserve refuge.
-Aileen Holthaus-
Together, these wonderful phrases became the focal point of my perspective the last couple of days and also of today’s blog post. I have curiously been checking out snow on trees as I have walked and rode in a vehicle since Thursday’s heavy and wet snowfall. Mother Nature always delivers. This week, she plans to deliver some bitter cold to our area. And it will foster my appreciation for winter gear and a heated home to which I can return.
I reserved the refuge of healing yesterday as I marked fourteen years since the third surgery to address cancer in my right breast. On December 17, 2008 I had bilateral mastectomies. Today, I have scars, ongoing health, and deep gratitude. I saw my niece Sarah yesterday, the newest family member to face a breast cancer diagnosis. Active treatment is complete. Her hair is growing back. She is adjusting to medication side effects. She is moving forward with life. Life goes on. What a gift!
Family time with my siblings and their families, to celebrate the holidays, was fun, conversational, and filling (with a delicious variety of delectable edibles). Thank you for always being such generous and gracious hosts Zita and Randy! We have been minus the matriarch in recent years, as Mom declines and is unable to get out and about. And yet, I feel her presence as well as the presence of Dad, our sister Mary Jo, and those family members who couldn’t be there in person yesterday, but who still roam the planet. Wonder was renewed as I looked at the tiny bundle known as Hal, the newest addition to our growing family. Congratulations Kiane and Brad!
I heard my brother Morry tell the details of his bike accident a few weeks ago and it renewed the wonder of chance and how fate (and a good helmet) made it less serious than it could have been. Keep healing Morry! I smiled as we sang “Happy Birthday” to my sister-in-law Charlene, a day early. Happy Birthday! I appreciated every conversation, smile, and hug shared with my extended family yesterday. Thank you to each and every one of you for our connections!
Shelving the cynicism? Watching (sort of) the Minnesota Vikings go down 33-0 and then Darcy and I heading out on our drive home. Checking the score that had been 33-7 in the 3rd quarter when we left, and seeing 36-28 with a couple of minutes remaining. Listening to them tie it up, go into overtime and win on a field goal with seconds remaining. Making NFL history with the greatest comeback of all time. Coming back from a deficit of 33 points, breaking the previous record of 32. It just happened to be the team’s 1000th game as a franchise. Wow!
I didn’t grow up a Vikings fan, becoming one more when we moved to the state in 2000. It hasn’t been easy being a Vikings fan, and there are folks who have been at it far longer than me. But this season has brought some absolutely crazy games and finishes, and yesterday’s took the cake (or Christmas cookie if you wish).
Renew. Check out. Shelve. Reserve. In so doing, peace and gratefulness will find new outlets. Share what you discover. Have a good day! Onward! You get the idea.
