 |
| Little, bitty calves make me happy! |
January 20, 2025
FOSTERING RELATIONSHIPS/BUILDING COMMUNITY
While I visited with a friend this afternoon, Mike carried
several wheelbarrows of wood and stacked them on her porch. Now we know she will have what she needs
to keep her stove going during this cold weather. I am thankful that opportunities arise for us
to give back to our friends and neighbors.
Community is built on individual relationships.
January 22, 2025
Taxes
When Mike and I began dating, he expressed despair at keeping
his financial records and I offered to take on the task. However, it didn’t last long. He didn’t like how I was doing it and
complained one too many times.
For the next 19 years, Mike has done his own books. (There’s also a story: Mike complained my slaw didn’t taste like his mom’s, and for the next thirteen years, he didn't get any unless his mom made it.)
Anyway, I offered to take over the books for 2024 as long as he didn’t try to tell me how to do it, and he has been (mostly) silent about it.
Today, I am close to wrapping things up so we can file our taxes.
January 23, 2025
Errands
We’ve been home, just the two of us, since Sunday, which we
don’t mind. However, with warmer temperatures today, we wanted to mark some errands off our list. We went to Galax to sign some
paperwork and ran by the vet’s office to pay a bill. Then, we decided to go to Mt. Airy. I had been eyeing an exercise bike advertised on Facebook Marketplace. We picked that up and shopped at
Aldi’s.
January 26, 2025
Exercising Joy
One-one thousand.
Two-one thousand. Three–one thousand. Four-one thousand. Five-one thousand. Six-one thousand.
I sank down, breathing heavily, and thought “At my age and body condition, there’s absolutely no way I can build up the strength to do a plank again.”
"But, there’s Annie," I thought. Annie is registered in the Gunnesses World Book of Records as the oldest female to hold a plank.
"If she can do it, surely I can as well. Annie had to start somewhere, and my six-second plank is at least a beginning."
This week, I’ve been reminded that joy is also an exercise of the will, a muscle that gets stronger with use.
Yesterday, NPR aired a podcast with author Bonny Reichert in which she gives the listener a glimpse into her ninety-year-old father’s life. As a holocaust survivor of Auschwitz, you would think that his perspective would be negative. However, Bonny points out that after surviving atrocities under the Nazi regime, her father chose to focus on a life filled with joy. Please listen to the whole 8-minute interview for yourself at this link. It will be time well spent. (Bonny Reichert authored the book HOW TO SHARE AN EGG: A TRUE STORY OF HUNGER, LOVE AND PLENTY.)
I will admit that the darker days of winter make it more difficult for me to focus on what is positive, and the political climate seems ominous and foreboding. Friends and family are struggling with various burdens for which we are concerned. We often shoulder unspoken burdens alone.
Upon listening to the interview, I was instantly remiss at my own negativity, fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. Here was a man who had experienced the worst life had to offer, yet daily chooses to live a life of joy. Surely, I can do the same!
Joy produces more joy, and is similar to holding a plank when exercising. It builds and becomes stronger with consistent practice. A few seconds of focusing on something bright will strengthen my mind.
I’m not talking about a superficial, fake attitude of positivity that denies the existence of evil against which we must all take a stand. Instead, I am talking about the small moments offered to us each day that foster hope: the genuine smile of a child, moments shared with friends, sunlight shining through the clouds, deer drinking from a stream, calves playing in the field, the warmth of a fire, a book that stirs the imagination, or a song that soothes our soul.
Can you name one thing from the last 24 hours that brought
you joy?
Let’s all start there.