Simple Joys

Welcome to Simple Joys on Chief 187™Chatter. Our worlds are full of comings and goings, beginnings and endings, losses and gains, struggles and peace. It is a giant Circle of Life and we are just a part of it.

I was experiencing several challenging weeks of late; difficult to find the positive, yet determined to seek out my Simple Joys and salvage as many moments as I could to change the negative tide. Recently things just started to gel. I established a routine that is working for me, relaxed my ideas of what “should be” and replaced them with “what is”. And, as always, I leave myself ample space to find Simple Joys in my everyday life.

Now, without further ado, is today’s Simple Joys.

Playing Legos Part I. It’s rare for me to get to spend time alone with my children individually, especially the oldest child who is involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. But on Saturday afternoon, while his sister slept and his brother was at a birthday party, we were able to spend a relaxing hour together playing Legos. He had a new set to build, one he had gotten for Christmas a year ago! We talked, we laughed, I handed pieces to him and he constructed the set. He finished before his brother arrived home and was so proud. I luxuriated in an afternoon spent bonding with my son who is all too quickly becoming a young man. Simple Joys indeed.

Playing Legos Part II. After a long and joyful Christmas season we finally put away the last of the Christmas decorations and pulled the Legos from the basement to take their post-holiday place in our Library/Lego Room.

Our daughter was in the other room playing with her Dad while the boys and I played Legos. We got a bit silly and I asked my middle boy to run and show his father something I had made (a Lego guitar). He scampered off. My boy returned with a message from his father, a song lyric that was apropos to the situation. I retorted with a different lyric and told the boy to deliver the message back to his father. This game played out with our son as the runner for nearly twenty minutes amidst laughter erupting from everyone! Times like those spent with my family are the immense Simple Joys that make difficult days so worth getting through.

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. After the first glorious snowfall of the season, my husband and I outfitted our three children and ourselves, threw the sleds and tube in the van, and headed out to our favorite hill to sled down. It takes several minutes to get there so I threw my iPod on the car stereo. Diana Ross’ version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” began. If you aren’t familiar, this song runs over 6 minutes long. Long ago I taught my husband some dramatic Supremes-esque dance moves to this gem. He consistently breaks into them whenever this song appears. What I love about my husband is that he stays with the performance the ENTIRE song and has me in stitches from start to finish. He’s dedicated and his show is a Simple Joy I will never tire.

Sledding. The snow was clean and powdery. The hill was perfectly slick but not icy, hard, or overly dangerous. The children were excited, overjoyed, and ready. We sent the boys down one after the other while my husband and I took turns taking our daughter down the hill in our arms. They laughed, squealed, screamed with excitement and pleasure. No one got hurt, in trouble, or lost. It was an ideal outing that made our first snow day contain a huge Simple Joy.

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lotion. I’m not too with it about health and beauty products. I need lotion I buy what is on sale. Usually I choose an unscented formula. This last time I needed some I stood in the aisle at the grocery store reading labels and deciding what type I needed. The Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lotion was a good price and seemed to address the symptoms my skin is showing this winter. It is now my favorite lotion of all time! Did you know Cocoa Butter Lotion smells like… chocolate?! I had NO IDEA! And is the most intoxicatingly wonderful smell I have ever adorned myself! I smell downright delicious! Delectable! Sinful! And, best of all, I’m calorie-free. I’ve found my lotion and I’m keeping this Simple Joy on my bed stand from now on!

There have been some other great things going on in my life both personally and professionally, but I’ll leave that for a later date. I just understand so much better now that everybody goes through difficult times, some times worse than others, but by keeping the heart and mind open to Simple Joys, those difficult times are seen through and better days are waiting. I encourage you all to list your Simple Joys weekly, whether written like I do or mentally, just to keep the balance and perspective positive in your life. Simple Joys do so much to enhance life; isn’t it time you take notice?!