A blast of winter hasn't quite finished with us here in the north yet. Here it is not even a week before St. Patrick's Day and we have white out conditions and all this other yuck. It's not that beautiful light snow you get right before Christmas. No no it's that winter is not done yet snow where if you dare drive you are gripping the wheel and begging to make it home okay.
As I get older the winter seem to attach to my bones. Getting warm isn't as simple as putting on a blanket and sitting in front of the fire. That helps don't get me wrong, but I need to be warm from the inside out. I don't go for the fancy coffee or the added flavors etc I just want good coffee. I make a pot of coffee that the whole family can drink if they choose and wait for the aroma to fill the house. I kid you not it is just like the commercial. Those taking naps wake up, those hid away in their rooms on their laptops come out. Just to touch the warm cup of coffee. Not even in the fancy coffee pots, but the old ones that the whole family gather around waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. It's one of those things that is pretty special, and you didn't know it would be.
I really liked that quote from Norman Vincent Peale so much so that it actually made me give it more than just a passing thought. I dared to think how can I apply that to my life, particularly let's give it a practice run today.
My day wasn't set out to be glamorous it was to be filled with cleaning, and every day household duties. I applied enthusiasm to each thing I did. Not to be mistaken for rage, hostility, or the ever lasting 'why me'. Just some old fashion enthusiasm. That enthusiasm caused me to hum, that hum caused me to quicken my step, that step caused the sleeping dog to get off the couch and join me, and quite frankly it caused the whole day more production and a better attitude all the way around. I kinda like something new to focus on...enthusiasm.
It's not like I have some huge fan base that follows my blogs anymore, but I enjoy rereading posts I've wrote from years past. It's like an online journal that doesn't get lost just because your computer crashes. That being said your pictures are always here too.
I'm turning 40 this year, and it's bothered me since the ball dropped on Jan. 1st. I didn't make New Year resolutions or anything I just kept thinking about that 40th birthday. I've set things in motion for years trying to fix my health, marriage, career, broken bridges, etc. and for the life of me none of these things have ever made huge advances forward. Some unfortunate events have happened in my life recently that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, and I didn't have a chance to over analyze them so I just kept pressing on. It seemed that "all of a sudden" things were falling into place. The irony of it all is quite simple the bottom could fall out again tomorrow and I will be fine. Even if everything falls apart and I start over from scratch I will make it somehow. I may not have accomplished what I thought I should have by 40, but what I have accomplished I didn't know I wanted. I accomplished the ability to rise from the ashes time and time again.
This is a photo of the deer coming in looking for food on our apple tree last week. There are things in life that still to this day leave me with wonderment and amazement. It was breathtaking.
