There is beauty all around us if only we pause to appreciate the gifts in our lives. It sounds simple… Yet how many times do we get into our cars on a sunny morning, and drive to work without even noticing the sun streaming through the leaves of the trees along the side of the road, or the bright orange of the sunrise in the bay, or the way that the crops ripple like waves in the wind?  How many times do we get lost in thought, going over the happenings of the day, remembering the past, or worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet?  How many times do we get distracted, by our phone, our work, our daily frustrations, and forget to enjoy the things that are right there in front of us if only we were to pay attention?

Pausing to notice the beauty all around us adds depth and meaning to our lives.  When we live in the moment and pay attention to these little things we realize just how blessed we really are.

I have recently begun a gratitude journal.  It helps me to reflect on my day and reframe it in a way that takes the ordinary things and makes them meaningful.  Some days things go my way and other days they don’t. But when I stop at the end of my day to reflect on the good things that have occurred, I discover that even the worst day has something in it I can be grateful for. 

For me, sometimes it is as simple as pausing for a moment to look out the window and watch the tiny droplets of rain as they patter on the glass and slowly run down the pane…  The sound of the rain and the visual image stay with me throughout the day and this is grounding to me.  Sometimes it is a quick interaction that I have with a co-worker or family member… almost too small to be meaningful and yet enough to put a positive spin on the day for a while.  In all this, I have a choice…do I choose to focus on what makes me happy, or do I discount those things and focus on the negative?  Making the choice to focus on the good things changes my entire outlook and how I experience my day.

We can find meaning in even the smallest of things when we take a moment to stop… just completely stop doing anything for that moment… and notice what is around us.  And the more we do this, the more our brain shifts to seek out the positive in our day which, in turn, makes us all the more likely to notice the other things we are grateful for.  Don’t miss these moments… Don’t miss your opportunities to turn what you have into “enough”.

Finding Beauty in Each Droplet
	By Krista Longeway

I watch as rain pours down from dark skies.
Plans of picnics and bike rides
melt into disappointment as the puddles form outside. 
But it is this rain that feeds thirsty flowers
and brings our crops to life.
It is this rain that fills our rivers
and turns the world green again.
So I listen to the rain pattering against my window
and I watch as droplets 
slide down the pane and disappear
into the puddles below.
There is beauty in each droplet that falls from the sky.
And who am I 
to think that my hastily made plans 
are more significant than the task of watering the earth?
And who am I 
to think that sunshine is the only way to happiness?