Confession time

OK truth be told sometimes it is not easy for me to write this blog (as proven by my long periods of not writing it).  But I am trying to make a habit of writing it.  So if the words and thoughts come out weird, forgive me, but in reality it may not be the words I am writing that it is the point.  Nor is it the habit of writing in a blog as the point.  The point is I am striving to enjoy life.  I am striving to remember the good of my day. I am striving in my own way to keep an eye on the future and my heart in the present.  Frankly sometimes life can be boring, sad or hard, but if I put for the effort to look for even one small non-boring, non sad, smile each day than maybe in the end my days will be a little brighter, not that the day was any different than before but my attitude will be a little different.  This blog is about making the habit of remembering and enjoying the small things in life.  It seems that many of my blogs mention spending time with friends and doing the same thing - going out for froyo etc.  but is that a bad thing.  Does doing the same good thing over again make it any less of a smile?

So what is today's smile - I would say it was a small reminder that my old school car is really old school.  It was in that moment I remembered that manual locks and windows on cars were a thing from my "younger years."

support

   I would say that today's happiness is brought to you courtesy of support.  I had a productive meeting with my PhD adviser.  I am so grateful for his support and help with achieving my dreams.  We are working on making my PhD dissertation something I can be proud of not just get by with. The support of my adviser, friends and family for achieving my dreams means the world to me.  We all need the support of others.  In moments of doubt it is reassuring to hear the words "I believe in you" or to have someone in our corner of the ring.

same old joy

Some days I must admit it is hard to find the "joy" of the day, but at the same time there are things that do make us happy.  My day was fairly ordinary but a smile can be found in a text from a friend, a good book, or a delicious meal.  While there may not be much to say it was a joyous day or the best day or even an eventful day, there was still smiles or happiness in the day.  Truth be told those are the majority of our days.  We don't always have glittery days but we have days that are still good, filled with small things we do enjoy or small smiles that bring a little warmth to our day.  We had rain today and I LOVE the rain.

the sprinkles to life's ice cream sundae

OK, so little secret, at times I don't care how I look, but sometimes I just want to feel cute.  So today's happy moment is brought to you courtesy of good friends and feeling cute.  I am beginning a new friendship and it is delightful to get to know good people.  I also got to spend time with two of my best friends.  Truly good friends are a blessing and a joy in our crazy lives (maybe because the sprinkles to the ice cream sundae of life).  We don't need a lot of good friends but we are blessed with special friends who touch and enrich our lives.

I have also been quite lazy and decided I want to start to dress the part of who I want to be.  So I dressed up somewhat nicer than normal and there is something to be said for feeling cute.  No I didn't get second glances walking by (heck I probably didn't get first glances).  But I did feel cute myself and that was a nice change.

Just thoughts

I have been thinking, in all honestly I like many other people have dreams and desires.  There are so many things I look forward to and there are some things I have on my bucket list of life (like a biking cheese tour in Europe).  But I don't want my desires for the future to hinder my enjoyment of the present.  Yes it is very good to dream and go for them, but I don't want to forget that life is now.  I may not enjoy me dreams if I can't enjoy the blessings I have.  Yes there are rough days and yes life is not always easy.  In fact it is easy to focus on our struggles and our desires for the future and miss our joys of the present.  This is why I am doing this blog, to help me focus on the small moments each day that bring a smile to my face.  True many of my dreams have not been achieved yet (ie I have not finished my PhD completely, but I am closer than I have been before), but I need balance, we all do.  I need to balance my dreams of the future with my life in the present.  Why would God spend time to create a beautiful world if He did not want us to also enjoy it?  We need dreams.  I need dreams, they define a part of who I am, but I also need to enjoy the present because one day my dreams will be the present and I may not recognize them.  It is living with an eye toward the future and a heart in the present.

So little reminders of joys of the present is the joy of reading a good book and having an annoying headache finally go away.  Granted I have been doing a lot of reading good books (even staying up until 7am to finish a good book), but those are things that I enjoy as well.

In today's attempt to try and look on the bright side of life, or focus on the good... I am pleased to announce that BLTs are a happy moments in my life.  They remind me of childhood or of simpler days.  What is it about memories of the past that help us enjoy the present?

So I need to get back to thinking about and writing about those small moments that make me smile, because inevitably it will bring a smile to my face.  So today's smile is brought to you courtesy of good friends and a delightful dog.  I was able to spend time with friends I haven't seen in 6+ months and honestly it felt just like yesterday.  A good friend is a blessing and a joy.  They love you as you.

I truly want a dog and at the moment I can't have one, but I am not going to let that hold me back from enjoying the moments I get to walk a dog.  I was able to walk a friend's dog this week, what a delightful dog he is.  Even if I don't have what I want I still get to enjoy the time with a good dog who loves the attention.  One thing that made me smile was just sitting outside reading with Cody (the delightful yellow lab) going after a fly, it was amusing.