Count Your Happy Circumstances
Last week, I went to Austin, Texas for a conference. I drove out with a friend. We spent 20 hours in a car together, shared a room, and went to all of the conference events together without getting on each other’s nerves. That’s a pretty lucky event in itself, especially considering that we both tend to get a little wound up and a lot nervous before we have to do things like speak at academic conferences.
All along the way, though, we both kept pointing out how charmed we felt by how well everything was working out. We expected rain on the drive. It didn’t rain. We are both somewhat directionally challenged, yet we had no trouble getting there and back. Yes, okay, the drive was interstate the whole way, but we’re still taking credit. When we got there, we both ran into friends we hadn’t seen in years. Some of them we knew would be there; others we did not. We got to see lots of writers we admire. Several times when we thought we wouldn’t get to see someone we wanted to see because of schedule conflicts, that very same person would show up in another session unexpectedly. As it turned out our hotel was a just a nice walk away from the conference hotel, though we thought we’d have to drive or catch cabs in a strange city.
The whole trip was a series of happy circumstances, and we didn’t waste the chance to feel good about it in the least.
I believe there is a Divine Providence at work in our lives that takes care of us even when we do not know we need caring for. I believe there are times when we can just feel it happening even though we don’t exactly understand the whys or the hows.
I’ve spent a lot of time around cynical people. I’ve spent a lot of time in situations where taking pleasure in simple fortunes would be viewed as silly and/or not very bright.
But I’m here to tell you life is a whole lot better when we give ourselves permission to feel blessed, to be grateful for those simple fortunes and happy circumstances.
It’s been a hard year. My friend who rode with me to the conference lost her house, her car, and all of her belongings last August. Even if she chooses not to dwell on her problems, they are still looming right there, in plain sight, impossible for anyone to ignore. Still, she can give herself permission to feel blessed, to be appreciative of the simple gifts to be found in the middle of the struggles. If nothing else, that’s the lesson many of us here in Katrinaland have learned this year.
Give yourself permission to feel good about your happy circumstances. It won’t hurt you. Really. I promise.
All along the way, though, we both kept pointing out how charmed we felt by how well everything was working out. We expected rain on the drive. It didn’t rain. We are both somewhat directionally challenged, yet we had no trouble getting there and back. Yes, okay, the drive was interstate the whole way, but we’re still taking credit. When we got there, we both ran into friends we hadn’t seen in years. Some of them we knew would be there; others we did not. We got to see lots of writers we admire. Several times when we thought we wouldn’t get to see someone we wanted to see because of schedule conflicts, that very same person would show up in another session unexpectedly. As it turned out our hotel was a just a nice walk away from the conference hotel, though we thought we’d have to drive or catch cabs in a strange city.
The whole trip was a series of happy circumstances, and we didn’t waste the chance to feel good about it in the least.
I believe there is a Divine Providence at work in our lives that takes care of us even when we do not know we need caring for. I believe there are times when we can just feel it happening even though we don’t exactly understand the whys or the hows.
I’ve spent a lot of time around cynical people. I’ve spent a lot of time in situations where taking pleasure in simple fortunes would be viewed as silly and/or not very bright.
But I’m here to tell you life is a whole lot better when we give ourselves permission to feel blessed, to be grateful for those simple fortunes and happy circumstances.
It’s been a hard year. My friend who rode with me to the conference lost her house, her car, and all of her belongings last August. Even if she chooses not to dwell on her problems, they are still looming right there, in plain sight, impossible for anyone to ignore. Still, she can give herself permission to feel blessed, to be appreciative of the simple gifts to be found in the middle of the struggles. If nothing else, that’s the lesson many of us here in Katrinaland have learned this year.
Give yourself permission to feel good about your happy circumstances. It won’t hurt you. Really. I promise.
posted by Sharon Gerald | 3:10 PM
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