Thankful for the little things
I knew it was going to be a good day when I jumped out of bed at 5:30 am completely awake after only 5 hours of sleep. The kids wanted eggs for breakfast and I thought we were out..but two were hiding in a carton in the back of the fridge. My favorite jeans were clean. And they fit. I hit the road for a business meeting and traffic was a breeze. The meeting went great and it might just yield a beautiful new partnership. I might have even snagged a new project from a local studio in need of some copywriting help. I ate a very fulfilling Tuna sandwich that was only $1. And someone gave me free beer.
This good vibe might all come to a screeching halt this evening when Pedro squares off against Pettitte in the Bronx. But I’m trying not to think of that yet. I’m not ready to welcome that stress ball. Not yet.
All of this is to say that while we live in challenging times…while I increasingly find myself meeting with people who are struggling to eek out a living…and while I still can’t quite manage to help Julius with his school projects without a note from the teacher complimenting me on my patience with letting Julius do all his own work (ouch)…there is so much to be thankful for.
It’s been exactly 20 weeks to the day since I consciously set out on this journey to discover the next big thing for our business and for our family. Most of that journey has been quite literal. Living in a sort of nomad existence, working in coffee shops, poached office space and library nooks. Not to mention moving vehicles. And as I push ahead with this mobile exercise, I find that the sustaining line is found in maintaining an open mind. Open about new places, people and ideas. There is no longer (perhaps there never was) a “right” way to do things. Our nation’s founding fathers had it right when they built this country, this experiment, with a document. A document and a promise. A promise to “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
These self-evident truths offer no guarantees. There’s nothing in them about life being “fair.” But as a nation being born out of a journey to find the next new thing, I find comfort and – dare I say it – a certain joy in continuing that legacy in my own small way.
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. What else can one ask for?
Let’s not forget the role we play in defining our own life, protecting our liberty and pursuing our Happiness. And in so doing, be thankful for the little things that make up the whole of all of that. Even if it’s as little as a tasty Tuna sandwich.
