Finding the Gold in the Silt

Today’s hunt for happiness was extremely challenging, since I started the day with an absolutely nasty headache. I thought I caught it soon enough with migraine pills, but it just hung on and on. Ice pack: some relief but still wicked. Allergy remedy next: no good. Relaxation mp3: some relief. Internet search revealed that I was also rocking some dehydration. Water brought it under control enough to make it out to my nephew’s birthday for more sweaty work in the hot with a bunch of bugs biting me.

As much as it sucked to have a rampaging headache barely under control and then have to function around other people, I managed to scoop some happiness marrow out of the bones of this day:

1| Ice cream cake. With the crunchy + fudge in the middle. Frunch? Crudge? Neither word is too appetizing, but I like the sound of them anyway.

2| Amelia the Dog. I’ll be frank: I’m a cat person. Dyed in the wool. But Amelia is utterly charming. She is my sister-in-law’s chocolate lab, and she’s only one year old. When we were leaving the party, I kicked her ball off the porch and she went ape nuts going after it. She brought it back most of the way, put down the ball, and sat down, looking at me.  

I told her “bring me the ball!” in that way you talk to dogs, all excited and encouraging. She trotted over to me. I said “no, go get me the ball.” She knew from my voice that it wasn’t quite right, so she went over by the ball. I called her again. She started over without the ball again. “No, bring me the ball.” She went back, trying to figure it out. Finally, she bit the ball and I said, “atta girl!” and she brought it over. I said, “drop it.” And she did! Right away!

And so I kicked it over and over, the sunset dappling golden through the trees on the property. Every time she brought it back, I said the words I’d said before. And she remembered! It was like magic! Did I mention that she’s only one? I bet she gets into a good college!

3| That Smile. My husband gifts me with this specific smile once in a while. It’s one of my favorites. If it were a recipe, it would go like this:

Combine one part pride in your wife, with one part encouragement. Smother the whole mess in warmth and add a dash of eye twinkle. In a pinch, a smidgen of mischief can be substituted for the twinkle.

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The purpose of this exercise has been to help me pay attention more: to focus on the things that are good about my life instead of the parts that bring me down. As I trudged up and down a steep hill, helping to build a birthday gift/tree fort for my nephew, with my ankles complaining and the mosquitoes feasting, I wondered I what I would say tonight. But I continued to leaf through the pages of my day, looking for the positives…and it worked! I found them!

On a related note: I inadvertently ate/gacked a bug on one of the trips up the hill. They had been unrelentingly eating me, so I guess turnabout is fair play.

How about you? Eat any good bugs lately? Seriously, do you think that if you had to report to someone at the end of the day, you’d be able to report more on the joys than on the complaints? Give it a whirl and let me know what you find out.

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P.S. Happy Golden Birthday, Mowgli!