Earlier this year I wrote a post that I was taking a break from goal setting. I was just going to be for a while. I wanted to slow down, give myself space to think and just relax and re-calibrate. I didn’t want to be a car with a Ferrari engine and no GPS anymore.
A wonderful side effect of my taking a break from goals is that I notice more things. Moments I would have missed completely before.
And lately, I’m noticing a theme in these moments that I’m seeing. Here are a few moments that I just strung together today.
1 – Saturday morning I was in the Third Ward in Milwaukee, enjoying a springlike day in February. I took my dog with me to Stone Creek coffee so he could soak up the sun and light breeze with me. I tied him up outside to a post while I popped in to grab a cappuccino.
I always look out the window like any good helicopter dog parent to make sure he’s fine, and he was standing completely still, eyes closed, snout facing into the wind, just feeling the sun and breeze on his fur. He looked truly blissful.
2 – Sunday morning I slept in, got a cappuccino, and camped out on the couch while I let my boyfriend sleep in a little longer. I was reading a book, feeling the sun streaming in through the window, watching Nixon sleep on his dog bed at my feet, and felt incredibly peaceful.
In the background the fan was running. The smell of the fresh cappuccino danced over the pages of my book, as my dog and boyfriend snored lightly in tandem. I was taken aback by how peaceful and present I felt in that moment. I didn’t need anything, want anything, or question anything. I just… was.
3 – At the end of my work day today an employee of mine came into my office to show me a card she got her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day. It was the perfect card for him and she was beaming about it.
She was so happy to find a perfect, special little something for the man she loves. She practically floated out the door.
She was radiating happiness, all from finding the perfect card at Target.
That’s definitely the common thread between those three moments – they were pure, present, and simple.
I think back on these three things that took place over just the last few days, and I can’t help but laugh at how easy it is to overcomplicate every little thing and suck all the joy possible out of situations. Assuming things, making things mean more than they really are, allowing our brains to ruminate over things that don’t do any good. I’m human, I do all of those things, but I want to notice more of these simple things.
I want to be more like my dog. Close my eyes and feel the breeze on my face and just be still. Content. Satisfied. Here I’ve been trying to teach him so much in the short two years I have had him, but he’s had just as much (if not more) to teach me. He doesn’t over complicate the shit out of happiness. Maybe I don’t need to either.
Leaving It Better Than I Found It. 