themetapicture.com
via pinterest US Space Station in front of the moon
Yesterday, I posted a photo from my morning hike. Deb posted the response, “Thankfully it energized you so that you could return circulation to the right side of my body! THANK YOU!” Thank YOU, Deb. That comment totally made my day. It reminded me how the little things we do for ourselves really do make a difference.
You see, I’ve been really busy lately. As a friend put it, I’ve “had my hands full.” Which is terrific if you’re a massage therapist. It means you’re helping a lot of people, which is why you do what you do. A full schedule also means you’re paying your bills and your taxes and that you can join that CSA and that you’re actually going to be able to send your daughter to Costa Rica in the spring. But a full schedule also means long days. And that frequently means making sacrifices elsewhere. Like not making it to your daughters’ soccer games. And eating ramen noodles or cereal for dinner. Like not discovering the vacuum had died until the dog hair and dust bunnies were thick in the corners. Like being a little tired and preoccupied when your daughters are talking about an incident in biology and not really hearing them.
Thank goodness for small pleasures and blessings. Morning walks in the woods. Cooking potato latkes for breakfast with Delaney on her day off. Watching the Space Station cross the night sky with friends. Breakfast sandwiches at the river with a neighbor. The smile on a client’s face when the pain is gone. Game night. Pinterest. Consumer Reports arriving in the mail with “Vacuums” as their headline. Amazon.com. Clear blue skies. $.10 off on a gallon of gas. FaceTime. A cup of hot tea. My meditation cushion. Not needing to light the wood furnace even though it’s mid-October. These are the things that re-charge me, that fill me up, that nourish me. Some I seek out. Some are gifts. This is the good stuff that keeps me going so that I can do the good stuff I need to do. What fills you up in hectic times? What keeps you going?
Stairway Healing Arts Center 
Mandy I am so glad that you are busy and loving it!
Smiles … yes, like when you said the patient smiles when the pain is gone. A smile received is a great gift. Nothing more sincere than that. My family and their smiles do it for me. Like the expression: Take time to smell the coffee (or was it roses?), either way, they stand for whatever you find that allows you to appreciate the good in the world around you. You definitely have sensed a fragrance, Mandy
This is so nice, Mandy it’s inspiring to hear. yes full, full of life.