Yesterday was a tough day...
Quite frankly I was miserable. I'd been fighting off a monster infection that had latched onto my tonsil with a vengeance. The day culminated with a late night trip to the emergency room, as it felt like my throat was closing up. And it hurt. Bad.
But through it all there were little pockets of goodness throughout the day. Like when I moved my seedlings from the garage where they were sheltering from the dip in temperatures overnight and was surprised by the gorgeous morning glory blooms in the picture I snapped above.
The pic just doesn't do it justice, but I sat there and admired those lovelies for a bit and somehow it made the pain in my mouth bearable.
Later while I was checking out at the pharmacy, I realized how it made me feel when I couldn't say thank you to the clerk. By this time my mouth wasn't opening far enough to talk, but I was still able to give him a smile with my eyes and slightly turned up lips and I'm pretty sure he got the message.
That unspoken connection in a strange way made me feel good. It reminded me of how openly appreciating the efforts of others makes you feel good yourself.
It also made me think of how grateful I am for my voice and the ability to speak, which got me on a binge of gratitude for all kinds of things. This too, helped dampen the pain and the way I was feeling about what I was going through.
You know, I'm just not sure I would have noticed the impact of these moments and used them to make me feel better, had I not been practicing seeing beauty and lingering in it, practicing mindfulness and writing what I am grateful for in my journal each night.
I just wanted to share all this with you, as we all have tough days and I'm hoping that you too are practicing these things daily so that your next tough day has the same kind of moments that make it more bearable.
❤️ Julie
P.S. There's a few spring journals left if you're out of practice and need something to help get you back into it.
I can hold both discomfort and beauty at the same time.
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