Little Things

Two ecstatic boys en route to Grandma's for spoiling. We may be rough around the edges, but we've got love!

Mondays are hard enough as it is, we may as well celebrate the little victories that making getting through the day (and week) a little bit easier! I'm sharing a few of my little victories in hopes that it will inspire you to take notice the choices you make that turn the tides toward a more peaceful and positive life. Please share some of your little victories with me below, I'd love to know!

So, without further ado...

*I didn't stress-react. In the past, if confronted with a stressor, I would react. I would have a drink, have a cigarette, have a chocolate, have a bitch or a snark, or have a (long) mental escape. I encountered several situations in which I was hit with a sudden and frustrating stressor this week. Each and every time it happened, my first thought went to: WINE! COMFORT FOOD! CHOCOLATE! SUPERNATURAL MARATHON ON NETFLIX!! Anything to make myself feel better. Instead, I told myself that the temporary fix wouldn't actually fix anything. I made myself cope like a grown-ass woman, and told myself that I will indeed have a glass of wine or a chocolate or Dean Winchester fix (meowr!), when I am in a calm and more centered place. A place where I can enjoy it without running away from whatever it is I was running away from. It worked, multiple times in fact! I coped (multiple times...). I saved money too, and I put a wrench in the stress-react cycle too. I had dozens of moments and in any one of them I could have kept the cycle going, but each time I realigned myself, the temptation grew weaker. It was rather empowering, actually!

*I went digital free for an evening, sort of. Not a big deal for me really, but I got my husband on the digi-free train for an evening and that was a victory. We spent a Saturday night playing records from his collection and my dad's that he gave us. It was so much fun! My husband pulled questions from Reddit (okay so he used his phone for that) and we spent the night answering all these funny questions like "What's actually as bad as people say it is?" or "If someone offered you $10,000 with the condition that you had to spend it in 4 hours, what would you spend it on?" or "What's something you find attractive that others do not?" and my favorite, "What is a feature that you would want to reasonably include in your own home?" We sat around, getting up occasionally to flip over a John Anderson, Dire Straits or Delbert McClinton record and just chatted about things. Something I noticed people don't do very often without texting, checking FaceTube, playing a video or googling something random. It was gloriously simple, the wine flowed and the conversation was interesting and lovely. A little victory for  a 21st century couple to be slightly more unplugged than usual. I hope to make that a regular part of my evening routine.

*We took the pups to see their "grandparents", or one set of them anyway. Usually when we get together for family dinner, we're too tired to deal with the dogs coming with us. I had this horrible moment when I realized it had been months since they'd gone on a car ride to my Mom's house (she lives four miles away!). So we scrubbed the little one (he's always dirty) and loaded the boys up and took them over there where they immediately got spoiled. The big boy, Comodino, went from person to person getting his ears rubbed. The little one, Seven, begged his Grandma for walks and treats and spent a good bit of time cuddled up in my arms drooling as he snoozed. So cute. It took a moment. It was one little choice to give these boys and their "grandparents" some quality time together. All I had to do was not be selfish or lazy about it. I feel terrible that it took me so long. I hope to make that a regular thing too. I'm a work in progress, what can I say?

Try to take some time today to acknowledge the little things you've done to make your day and life better. Not getting the $4 latte because you're on a budget, or taking an extra ten minutes when you walk your dog so he or she can sniff around a little bit longer. Maybe letting the older person behind you in checkout line go ahead of you. These things don't hurt, but they do help a tremendous amount in a million different tangible ways. You may find that each little thing snowballs into big, buoyant, beautiful change.

I hope you have a truly wonderful day!!