Tonight I am grateful for good friends. I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time this week with my friend Mary–and on at least two occasions we had our daughters with us. Mary’s daughter is a few years older than Michal. The four of us went to the movies last night and also hung out this evening as we celebrated a cozy”girl’s night out” with two other young women. Originally intended to be a mother-daughter hang out, some of the mothers couldn’t come, so we had more daughters, but in the end it was a good night and fun relaxing with the women. I had come home after what had been a long-feeling day followed by an interminable commute. I took a quick nap and then off we went to hang out with the women.
It has been a tiring day–coming home after 10 p.m. to sit down and write will mean a seriously abbreviated blog.
I am grateful for second chances that we get from time to time. Every once in a while when something doesn’t go as expected or hoped, or you attempt something that doesn’t turn out very well, or you don’t create the kind of impression you wanted to, you really want a do-over. I haven’t had very many of those in my life, but sometimes you get one. Not too long ago I made a decision that had I felt I had to make for a variety of good reasons, but the consequence was that I took myself out of consideration for an opportunity I was being considered for. There were a lot of things going on in the situation and I knew I made the right decision even if taking care of one thing meant neglecting another. Then tonight I received a call that brought the opportunity that had seemed completely gone back into the realm of possibility. In short, I have a second chance to at least look things over and see if the opportunity is worth pursuing. We shall see.
Second chances happen for me every day; or at least I have a chance nearly every day to make a good day of one that has been difficult or a great day out of one that was pretty good. I have opportunities to apologize and reconnect with someone whom I’ve hurt by my actions (or inaction) or to reach out to someone who seems to be in need of it. Some are tiny little do-overs, and others are more significant. But I am constantly surprised at how many times over the course of a single day we make decisions that take us in the direction of good. In this one day I’ve experienced a gamut of emotions–sadness, boredom, irritation, exhaustion, pleasure, amusement, etc. At the end of the day, no matter how it began or what happened during its course, I sit and think about and share gratitude with the world–a wonderful do-over.
So I’m going to take my rest a bit later than I’d like and still have to get up a bit earlier tomorrow than I might feel ready for. But I’ll write in my journal, practice my smiling, do a little lovingkindness meditation, and get on with my day. May we all know happiness and the root of happiness. So be it!
