Disappointments and Gifts

Every day there are disappointments in life but we forget to see the gifts through the day.

I've had my share of disappointments this week. I didn't get the job that I really wanted, I'm not going to go to the U2 concert even though I have a ticket, I have to keep applying for jobs and hope something happens, I came home to a house full of sick dog with the evidence all over the house. These are all everyday disappointments that so many people face all the time. They are simply new to me and I'm not too sure how to deal with them. Ultimately I have to suck it up and move on, which I think I'm doing pretty well at.

On the flip side of all of that, there are some great gifts that happened all week too. Since I'm not going to the concert, I get to spend my 35th birthday with my family. Not just my husband and son but my mother and my sister who I haven't spent a birthday with in 5 years. We've had a couple of really nice nights enjoying a fire in our wood stove which we started up for the first time this week. We had a late Thanksgiving dinner at my sister in law's with all the mayhem that goes with it and it was great. I got to spend a couple of hours with my mom yesterday just us and M. This is a giant rarity which makes it all the better. We've found a wonderful gift for my mother in law from everyone which should make her happy on her birthday this week. When you can make someone else happy I think you've found one of the better gifts in the world. I have a little boy who's learning his independence and having major fits when he gets frustrated. He has the best laugh when he's happy and it doesn't take much to get that smile. Let him climb down the stairs or play a game of chase and he's happy.

So there really are gifts in every day if we look for them. We simply have to notice them. Pay attention to those little things that matter because doesn't it matter more that a little boy laughs than whether or not I got a job or went to a concert?