Life is a series of crises with shimmering seconds of joy in between. Celebrate the in between.
A fan of Nick Kristof’s NYT writings shared the following learning from the past year:
From the “Ten Percent Happier” podcast: Stop and recognize happy moments when you’re in the middle of them. stop and say out loud, “This is a happy time.” It’s a way to ground yourself in the joyful parts of your life. We do this with moments of trauma and crisis all the time. Maybe we should flip the script. — Mary Guzzetta, Pittsburgh
Humans gravitate toward stress. “If it bleeds, it leads,” is a maxim practiced by content creators. The shocking grabs attention.
Much of our earthly existence revolves around the uncomfortable. Unfulfilling jobs fund lifestyles defined by others. Things hurt as time and experience tax our minds and bodies.
It can be easy to miss the good stuff “in between.”
Celebrate sunsets. Savor a dish you love which might not be what the doctor ordered. Make the most of days when joints hurt less, the weather is cooperative, and you have interesting things to do. Schedule face time with the people who matter most. Allow some selfish pleasures only you enjoy.
Through it all, recognize the magic moments. Be grateful for the in between. Save those memories in an imaginary mind jar where you can retrieve them when more trying times intrude.
One of the lessons pressing the front of my consciousness as the clock ticks is how brief our time is in this interesting life. Do what you must to facilitate your adventures. Deal with the bad stuff without losing faith in ultimate triumph.
Celebrate the in between.
