Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012

This season seems to herald in a time of reflection.  Whether you celebrate any of the numerous holidays or not, the winding down of the year brings with it a time of remembering years gone by.  Past traditions.  Loved ones.  It can be a time of unadulterated joy, immense sorrow or anything in between. 

For me, this season causes me to reflect more than I usually do.  And I like that—reflecting.  Why?  Because I believe it helps to keep me grounded.   Remember the things that are really important, not those that the media and society try to fool us into thinking are significant. 

More so than other times, this is a time of year when I actively seek out the simpler things that make me smile.  Those things, places or activities that make me feel light and fulfilled inside. 

Case in point.  I was in a thrift store the other day where I located three woven rattan hot pads.  Now most wouldn’t get as excited about such a little thing.  But then, I’m not most people.  Seeing the hot pads brought back fond memories about when my ex and I would go to Thrifty’s dollar days—the only time we could afford to buy anything—to find items for our kitchen and household. 

It was at those dollar days, almost thirty years ago, that I found several rattan hot pads, similar to the ones I’d just located in the thrift store.  I was able to afford to buy the Thrifty’s dollar days hot pads that week and enjoyed using them for over twenty-five years. 

When I moved a few months back, I was only able to locate one of the hot pads and took it with me, smiling over the happier times associated with it and how effective a hot pad it had been.  So, when I spotted the three in the thrift store, bound together with packing tape, as if they had just been waiting for me to find them, my heart soared and I laughed aloud at my discovery.  Yes, literally laughed.

My purchased simple hot pads cost a mere dollar, but the happiness they’ll provide, years of use over the next thirty years or so and pleasant stroll down memory lane…yeah…can’t put a price tag on that.