Life, Appreciated

As I sit here in my backyard, at my outdoor table, next to a citronella candle to scare off the flies that live back here, I think about how precious life is. I look around, and I am so grateful for our house, that we bought, at the ripe ages of 25 and 28. It’s adorable and we have a pool! It’s not perfect, just like life isn’t perfect. I’ve got weeds growing next to my tomatoes, some chipped siding, a back door that doesn’t open from the outside and some not-so-beautiful-anymore Hydrangeas that I cannot, for the life of me, keep alive. While all of these things drive me absolutely nuts, it’s those things that make the perfect things — like my eggplant, basil and parsley or my sunflowers that grew on their own, or my beautiful outdoor set or this amazing pool — all so special.

And then I think about life: We all have some “weeds” in our life, or some “chipped siding“, or “a door that won’t open“. We may even have some “Hydrangeas we keep trying to save“. But if we look away for just a second, away from those unfortunate things in our life, we are able to see the beauty in what we do have. This morning I walked along the beach with a very good friend of mine and this is what we talked about; How we can worry about what might happen, we can focus on the unfortunate things in our life and we can be miserable about both of them. OR we can decide to live in the present, take a walk on the beach, see the good in every day things that we usually take for granted.

In this chaotic world — in the non-stop, competitive, money-driven world — it is so incredibly easy for us to look at what else we can be doing or what we need to change in order to be happier. The truth is, the only thing you need in order to be happier, is the right mindset. My friend and I exchanged a conversation that brought both of us to tears. We shared stories about things we were not happy with and wish we could change. We realized we were not alone in this fight called life.

Before we left each other for the day we both said, all we can do is live in today. All we can control is how we view our situations. And all we want to be, and have decided to be, is happy. You can let the “weeds“, “chipped siding“, a stubborn “door” or failing “Hydrangeas” bring you down OR you can look at the “basil”, the “sunflowers”, the “outdoor set”, or the “pool” and choose to be happy. The truth is, everyone has a story, and everyone is going through something. Just because there is a smile on someone’s face does not mean they aren’t in a battle, it just means they’re fighting the battle by winning it over with happiness.

Later that day she sent me a quote that her husband sent her. To which I sent my fiancé and am now sharing with you. I urge  you to share this quote with the people you love.

♥

life, appreciated.