Walking into Walmart this past weekend, I can admit – I looked at the Christmas display. Actually, I can up the ante and confess – we bought something from the Christmas display. Yes, it was about 93° outside, but I came home with a couple of Christmas gnomes.
Looking Forward to Something
Although most of us rebel at the notion of gearing up for a holiday that is still 3 months away, I can appreciate the sentiment that it brings. I have wonderful memories of all of my Christmases spent with family. I wish that I could reproduce all of the magical years we spent together. These visual reminders of the best holiday of the year actually do make me smile a little (and sometimes a lot).
Especially when you’re having a troubling day, it’s okay to have something else to distract you. Having something make you smile doesn’t make you silly or delusional…it makes you human. Sure, I was rudely startled by a lizard in the house today – another of the extra critters you find down here in the South – so I had to figure out how to trap and transport it outside, all before my morning coffee. But, while that coffee was finally brewing, I could look over and smile at the gnomes hanging out on the kitchen counter. They served as an excellent distraction from the unpleasant activities of the morning. Was I really out at the street this morning, releasing a lizard back into the wild and hoping it wouldn’t find its way back inside? Maybe I’ve only been focused on finding a place to store my gnomes for 2 months or so…
Enjoying the Present
Whether it’s a routine task you dread doing or a surprise you wish hadn’t happened, there may be no getting around it…but facing it doesn’t have to ruin your day. Despite the unrelenting heat and humidity, they tell me it’s autumn now. That means there will be fun things to look forward to, like football games, and BCMC, and Halloween, and eventually Thanksgiving. Yes, it will bring days when you have to rake leave for hours, only to have the lawn covered again the next day. And some places will start worrying about snow and icy roads. We don’t have a choice when it comes to the challenges – it’s only where we put our focus that we can choose. We can do all of the tasks, dreaded or not, and then move on to finding a place for our gnomes.
So, whatever you have to face today, here’s hoping you have a gnome to help you meet the challenge and move on.