This post doesn’t need a lot of words, the pictures will be enough.
The quick description is that I had the chance to stop by the San Diego Country Orchid Show this past weekend, and the display was as glorious as I expected it to be. Lots of stunningly gorgeous flowers in a brilliant array of colors. It’s the kind of thing that takes my breath away and ushers in a rush of endorphins.
I was happily clicking photos on my phone and I was not the only one. Here is a smattering of the beauty I observed:
(Gallery photos by FranticShanti)
The last image is, of course, not an orchid but rather a very friendly talking parrot who made sure to say “Hi!” to everyone who walked by.
Here’s a slightly different type of gratitude practice. It’s a nice little way to bring more joy into your life.
Instead of looking for things to be grateful for, try simply thinking of things that you might be looking forward to.
They don’t have to be big productions like an expensive vacation or some sort of exclusive party. This works just as well, perhaps even better, with something small.
Grab a pen and a sticky note and start looking forward to the little things. (Photo by Ravi Palwe on Unsplash)
How small? How about receiving a new calendar you ordered that has pictures you find particularly soothing? Or maybe going to a museum that you haven’t visited in a while. Or visiting a local garden shop just to browse and take in the glorious colors.
Clean out your coffee maker and look forward to having tomorrow’s coffee brew in a clean machine.
Or look forward to getting into bed in the evening and stretching out comfortably.
Consider the things you could potentially look forward to…get granular about it…and try to see what the smallest thing might be that you could look forward to enjoying.
There’s a lot of good stuff in between those pickets. (Photo by Brad Switzer on Unsplash)
The “grandness” of the thing doesn’t matter—what matters is how you feel about it. And perhaps, at first thought, you consider it insignificant, but when you lean into it, you realize that it truly is something that brings you joy.
The more of these little things we can find, the more we realize that little bits of joy are scattered throughout our lives. And once we become aware of one, we might start noticing them everywhere.
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Speaking from personal experience, I find it very easy to become overwhelmed with the negatives in my life. There are times when it seems like all the difficulties come crashing down at once, at the worst possible moment.
However, it is worth shifting our focus and noticing the things that aren’t going wrong. It’s as if you are looking at a picket fence. The fence itself might be the negatives and they’re hard to miss—after all, they’re right in front of you.
But if you look through the posts of the fence, into the space between, that’s where you see everything “not wrong”. And you might find that, in fact, there is more “not wrong” space than there is picket fence.
So I encourage you to take some time when things get difficult to look through the fence and find your little joys to look forward to. Focus on them, write them on a sticky note and put the note somewhere where you’ll see it in the morning.
There are good weeks and there are bad weeks…and then there are weeks that you’re kind of managing and getting by, but know that your stressors will still be there for a while.
Last week was one of those for me. On the bright side, such days are a perfect time to practice stress management techniques. Notice the ups and downs. Ride them like waves, understanding that they will peak and ebb in a cyclical manner and eventually wash up on shore. All of this can lead to personal growth, even though we might not have wanted such a lesson in the first place.
At the same time, you might be thinking, “Thanks, but I’d like to pass on the personal growth for now.” In that case, maybe what you need is a short video of a snail doing something that seems impossible.
Here’s a little clip a friend brought to my attention that provides “don’t give up” inspiration for those times when you are waaay out of your comfort zone and will be having to pull yourself along for some time to come.
Hope you get as much inspiration out of this little guy as I did. Enjoy!
When ya gotta keep going, streeeeeeeetch…and then stretch some more.
Frantic Shanti 