This is a reminder that some days the good things are going to come easily, and some days we are going to have to dig deep.
Imagine, for example, it’s your birthday, or someone you love gets a new job or has a successful surgery, or has a baby. On those days, you might find yourself overflowing in good things, unable to decide which three to share.
Or maybe it’s a random Tuesday in September, and you have the day off; the weather is perfect and you hit all the green lights on the way to the market, the windows are down, and your favorite song comes on the radio. Maybe on this day, too, it’s hard to decide which good things to share.
Some days our cups run over.
Now imagine another kind of day. A day where you’re worried about someone you love. Or your kid is home sick and you have to miss another day of work. Or the car breaks down again. Or you’re struggling to pay the bills, or get out of bed. On a day like that, it can be hard to notice good things, much less name them, and share.
On that sort of day, you might really have to dig deep.
And so many of us are doing that. Showing up day after day, on the good days and the hard days and the random Tuesdays in September.
I’m reminding us about this tonight because we never truly know what someone else is going through. And when you read a list of good things in the comments here (or when you read my list in the daily post) you never know if a person feels like their cup is running over that day (that week, that month), or if they’re digging deep.
The only thing you know is that they are - we are - showing up to Notice, Name + Share the good things. Because it helps us feel more connected to what’s good. Because this practice re-wires our brains to be able to perceive more of what’s good. Because what we pay attention to grows. Because staying connected to the good in our lives, and in the world, helps us to live more wholeheartedly. And because when we Notice, Name + Share Good Things, we shine a light for ourselves, and for each other.
(Just to name a few.)
This is why we practice.
Thursday:
Sending my paintings out into the world to live in your homes brings me great joy.
Today I went to a multi-level grocery store, where the cart goes on its own special escalator. The small child in me finds that endlessly fascinating and marvelous.
The park in our neighborhood re-opened last week after two years of renovations, and it’s already full of life, and people playing and enjoying the public space.
Now you? Tell me 3 good things?
Xo.
