By most people's standards, today was pretty boring. I got up early, went to a local coffee shop, visited a new thrift store, and took a girlfriend to lunch.
Total time out of the house: 6 hours and 31 minutes--the longest I've been out in months with the exception of Tuesday's outing.
It was delightfully non-eventful and incredibly normal: just me, my girlfriend, the breeze, good food, and the sunlight and on my face. It was also the kind of day I miss most in my life.
When your healthy, you take so much for granted. You wake up. You brush your teeth. You make your plans and you go. You don't worry about whether you'll be able to get there or make it through.
Being sick, however, is a whole different story. It's like you're a car with a broken fuel gauge. You know you should have gas in the tank, but you're never quite sure. And every little extra thing-- running the air, playing the radio, curves in the road, putting it overdrive--can cause you to break down...sometimes when you least expect it.
As William Lyon Phelps once said: "One appreciates that daily life is really good when one wakes from a horrible dream, or when one takes the first outing after a sickness. Why not realize it now?"
While I am not thrilled about the teacher, I am grateful for the lesson.
Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return. -Mary Jean Iron
Altered Today: Appreciation for the simple things
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