On Friday, a good friend came over for a walk. We loaded Happy in the stroller and we took off for town. It had been a week (okay, it’s been a month and a half) and not much was going the way I was hoping it would and, to top it off, I’d been bumped for a book event in December by a possible presidential contender and I had a raging cold that had me feeling pretty low and apathetic. Our second stop on our walk was the Ben and Jerry’s. Because, sometimes, you just need ice cream. I ordered this fabulous new flavor- Bonnaroo Buzz- and commenced licking. Not 10 licks in, my cone hit the asphalt.
“That,” I said to my friend, “is exactly what my life is like right now. A perfect methaphor, if you will.”
But you did not come here today to hear me whine. Because, really, is there anything more annoying than hearing someone who really doesn’t have any problems in the grand scheme of things whining? Probably not. So I am putting on my big girl pants and counting my blessings.
#1 Friends who come over, listen to you whine, laugh with you when your ice cream hits the deck, and then help you keep going. Because it’s the “keep going” that matters. Right now, I am feeling especially grateful for my friends. It was looking for a moment that another medical emergency was going to call me out of town last week with 30 minutes to make it happen. One phone call to a friend and she was ready to keep Happy as long as I needed her to do so. Another friend went with me last week to a park she knew- but I didn’t- to find a running route for an upcoming Circle de Luz event. Another called, and I just unloaded. “Well, aren’t you glad you called?” I asked. “Absolutely,” she said and meant it. Many of them have held salon parties for Beautiful You where they allow me to share the book with folks they know and spread the BY message. Friends. Sometimes I feel like I am holding on so tightly that I might smother them. Thankfully, life allows for that to balance out over time. So to my friends, I owe you and I know it, and you are so, so, so loved.
#2. Books on tape. I am loving books on tapes these days. I was driving this weekend when a book on tape finished without my having the next one in my car and I was so disappointed. Hearing books that I would probably not have ever read otherwise has been such a treat!
#3 Gorgeous fall days. The last week was just a string of beautiful days. The temperature was right, the light was just incredible, the turning trees breathtaking. What gorgeous, inspiring days.
#4 My students. I just like them so much. They are honest and willing to be vulnerable and funny and going to change the world. I just know it.
#5 My dad’s progress. He is up and moving, and though it will be a long road to recovery, and there may be a whole new normal, what more can you ask for when you were promised nothing?
#6 The amazing volunteer force behind Circle de Luz. There are so many moving parts to a non-profit. And we handle all of those complicated moving parts and the emotions, ideas, and energy of three classes of teenage girls all by choice, all by calling, all by conviction. These women– the over 150 women- who make Circle de Luz possible have humbled me and overwhelmed me with gratitude. I am in awe. Seriously in awe.
