There are countless things of precious splendor in this life. But there are three secrets to finding those simple joys.
- Recognize them
- Appreciate them
- Spend some time with them
For me, I am pretty darn good at numbers 1 and 2. But when it comes to number 3… I really suck.
But tonight was different.
I am typically on the move. I stay busy with this and busy with that. My brand new awesome Dick-Tracy-Apple-Watch tells me that I stand about 15 hours a day. Most of that on-my-feet-time is moving this way and that. And… tonight was much the same…at first.
I had a boatload of things I wanted to get done. A big one on the list was to construct a new “chicken coop” in the garage for the young New Hampshires. For those of you out of the loop on the Chicken Scoop… we have 15 Orpingtons who are older by about 4 weeks. We also have 4 New Hamphshires. All of them poop. But…. Once the New Hampshires… Imogene, Eloise, Bernice, and Dorothy…. get a little older… we will put them all together. Until then, the little foursome live in the garage.
So tonight, I worked and worked, ply and bending chicken fence. Shaping… molding. Building a little gate. Then I cleaned things up, and a couple of hours later, the task was complete.
On to the next item on the list.
But wait. The garage door was open. The coop was all done, and a gentle breeze was easing its way into the garage. Thunder rolled in the distance, as the storms had moved in. A gentle rain was falling…. in the pitch black of night.
And those four little chickens. They did not fear the sky. They did not think it would fall. Instead… they were running and playing and enjoying their new little wabbley, yet awesome, coop.
So I took my queue from them. I grabbed an ice-cold soda, pulled up a stool, felt the mist of rain in the air…. and I simply sat and watched those chickens.
It was fulfilling. It was beautiful. It was one of those wonderfully simple joys in life.
I could see numbers 1 and 2 readily. But this time…. I found number 3. I can’t begin to tell you how good it felt. And now I know.
Perhaps that is one thing that will make the world a slightly better place. If everyone could make the effort…… in Finding Number Three. Taking the time… any time…. to enjoy the simple joys of life.