Three Wonderful Things

{Cross-posted at SarahCool, too... is that allowed? :-P I wrote it there, first! }

A while back, I came across a blog that was called something like "Three Wonderful Things." The woman who wrote it posted every day with three things that brought her joy that day. Every. Single. Day. It was such a simple concept that it generated a lot of publicity, and she was getting gazillions of hits a day. I can no longer find it (does anyone know what I'm talking about?), but two things really struck me out of this discovery.

First, it's that huge need we all have to see something joyful, to share in a common experience. I think things like that - so simple, but quite profound - really touch a place in our hearts that needs attention at times. Not that I'm trying to pull out the "media is evil" card, but so much of what we're inundated with is negative, is trying to make us fearful, is overwhelming us. Not just in the media, in life, too. We're busy, we're stressed. Who has time to stop and smell the proverbial roses? This lady did, and it caused a near phenomenon.

But more than that, it really challenged me. Could I find 'three wonderful things' about my day? About EVERY day? Often they were simple, sometimes they were profound. She said at first it seemed contrived. "Walking down the sidewalk in the sunshine." What? Really? But she was (is) all about finding those things in life to be happy about. What struck me was that it's a total mindset shift. And I like where it settled.

So lest I begin to sound like a "let's be happy all the time" kind of head-in-the-clouds wacko, I want to clarify. This is something I'm thinking about in my spiritual life, too. Gratitude. Recognizing the blessing after blessing after blessing that God pours out. Even when life is hard. I often think that it's so easy for me to get caught up in all the dust that my busy life kicks up, that my view of the vertical gets blocked out. I think I'd do much better by sitting still a while, letting that dust settle, and just looking UP.

So from yesterday, here are my three wonderful things.

1. Walking down the sidewalk in the sunshine. Really. After nearly two weeks of cold, grey, rainy weather, I was so grateful for the sunshine. It lifted my mood incredibly.

2. Our summer school principal treating us to a double recess yesterday afternoon. I was able to have an actual conversation with some of the staff that I hadn't been able to talk to previously, and it was nice to get to know them a little more.

3. The eight year old in my summer school class who, when everyone else was suggesting that, no, you can't touch emotions (we were asking deep thinking questions, and we were trying to determine, "What are emotions?"), she said:
~ "Well, some emotions you can touch."
~ Really? Which ones?
~ "Well, you can touch love."
~ Aaah! Interesting... How do you touch love?
~ "Well, when someone gives you a hug, that's how you touch love. And how love touches you."

I nearly cried. I hope you touch love today.

What are your three wonderful things?