Be Aware

As adults, whether we have toddlers, teenagers, grown children, or no children,
sometimes we go through our days on “auto pilot”.  Getting up in the morning and going about our business as usual is how many of us roll, and in part, that can be good.  There is comfort in familiarity and the daily routine.  The alarm gets snoozed (or thrown), and our daily lives begin. There may be children to rouse, lunches to pack, meetings to hold, and busses to catch. All of this is simple and good and just plain “life”.

Occasionally, though, the world tells us to stop and take notice.  We are
either thrown for a loop or slapped upside the head, but either way, we get the
message:  Slow. Down. 

On a recent morning, a thin layer of frost covered the grass.  I stopped on my way past the front window and caught a glimpse of the sun bouncing off
the tips of the blades.  It looked lit from within.  On my way to the car that
same morning, a trio of geese flew overhead, calling to each other.  In those few seconds, I thought about where they might be flying to, and how amazing it is that they knew how to get there.

I get it.  We’re all very gadget-friendly and connected and tuned in. It is convenient and fun, and yes, I am as addicted as the next ­­guy. Or girl.  Trust me.  Somewhere in our home there is always a beeping of some kind; a notification of one type or another.  Email.  Facebook. Words with Friends.  Don’t get me wrong, all of it is fun.  I’m simply stating that sometimes what’s more important are the things that are not beeping to get our attention.  They’re
quiet, sometimes silent. 

Taking the time to hear them, to really see them, is not hard to do.
It is just something we are not accustomed to lately.

Here's one way.

Log off.  Shut down. Write down.  Journal about your day.  The way the coffee smelled that morning, or how you caught every light green on the way to work.  The surprise of a new bird’s nest in the shrubs, and how you now look forward to the fragile, pale blue eggs that will soon fill it. 

Remember, it's the little things.

The joy of still reading to your children, even if your children are not lap-sized anymore.  Chapter books can be just as much fun as the picture books that were packed away or given away long ago.

That furry, four-legged friend who lives with you? All she has are gestures.  She needs you to notice them.  All she wants is your time.  Carve out a bit of it and toss a ball around or take her for a walk. 

Take notice.  Return the polite smile from a stranger in the middle of your bad day. 

Take the time to honor the request for a good-night kiss; cherish the feel of
your child’s arms when they want ‘the tightest hug you can give, I’m not even
kidding’. 

You never know.  Someone’s day just might be improved- or made – by those few moments of attention. It might just be yours.

Take the time to be aware.  Embrace the little things. 

Because those are usually the big things.