Many of you who read my articles on a regular basis know I love recipes, food ideas and gardening. This month I felt the need to make a change to remind us all of something that is very hard to keep in prospective in today’s busy world. We all need to remember and be reminded that we are each important.
To remember you are important sounds like an easy task. It is instead very challenging, especially with the crazy lives we live today. Here are some thoughts — humble as they are — that may be of help.
1. Stop for a few moments every day to enjoy a favorite time. Mine is a sunset; yours may be sunrise, or noon, or 3pm, or whenever. Step outside or look out the window and observe the colors and watch the movement as the scene is changing so slightly each moment. Stay for the whole show – until the twilight brings down the curtain, the sun completely rises or you simply need to go back to whatever you were doing. This brief break will give you time to breathe and your mind and body a moment to relax.
2. Write down three things you have done in the last year that changed someone’s day…or life. They don’t have to be big or fancy. Did you help give a person in the grocery line help by giving them the nickel they couldn’t find while their baby cried to go home? Was it a note you wrote to someone who has been under the weather and unable to get out and visit? Or maybe it was the basket of overabundant garden peppers, tomatoes and zucchini squash you brought to the mission or food bank for them to share. If you don’t have three things, then count this exercise as one of them and get to work.
3. Plan a gathering. If you are unable to do the work yourself, delegate! But gather together those loved and close. Plan a varied menu of old favorites and new recipes. Make the food gathering part of the experience. Indulge in the fresh foods available at local stands and farmer’s markets knowing they are healthier for you, as well as possibly helping a family in need make ends meet by your purchase.
Questions are floating through your brain as you read this: How do these things make me remember I am important? So far they all have to do with reaching outside of ourselves. Maybe that is the secret all along – when we reach out the gifts we all have inside of us shine. They bring joy, smiles, and laughter to others. These are very contagious things! They tend to make us stop and remember how it feels to be loved and how each one of us is important in the Big Swirling Whirl we call everyday life.
Warning: This is very contagious – you (and others) will find yourself wanting to follow steps 1 – 3 over and over!
Editor’s Note: This post first published in June 2010.
