Little Bitty Pretty One
Posted: November 7, 2014 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Yoga | Tags: #100happydays, blogging, compassion, cycling, family, Freedom, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, health, hipster, hope, Interstellar, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, running, self, social media, trail running, Truth, yoga 16 CommentsDon’t think about making life better for other people who don’t even deserve you, rather, focus on making your life the best, for yourself and those who love you-
Why do we find it so difficult to share our dark and dirty selves online? Do we openly express our happiness via social media to seek the approval of others? Perhaps the most damaging part is that by only recording and sharing the splendid moments in our lives, we lose track of who we really are? 100 happy days isn’t enough to outweigh the other 265-ish days in the year.
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Right now, in this beautiful/inspiring moment, I can pen a list of “things” that really pissed me off and made me feel rather unhappy yesterday. The first 5 or so things would be dedicated to parenting. Having a nine-year old dude going on 20 is good for a few unhappy annoyances. Sprinkle in a entitled beagle for at least 10 more. Next up would be work and then a major portion would be dedicated to the many poor choices I make during the day: Peanut butter with or without honey – Who to start on my fantasy hockey team – Which yoga poses to practice – Reading an article about the upcoming movie “Interstellar” that gave away major plot points – Which race do I sign up for next – Fussing over the recent elections.
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My #happy# moment yesterday was something so profound and kind that the thought of sharing it publicly, affectionately adorned with a hash-tag, seemed woefully self-serving (which is why I’m doing it now …). Why you may ask? Because it deeply touched my heart and soul. This amazing gift was something I could have Instagramed, or Twerped . The “thing” that brought me joy, and made my heart swell with gratitude yesterday, amid all the nine-year old drama, entitled beagle crap, work issues and peanut butter guilt … Was opening my email, sorting through all the spam from local yoga studios, and noticing a gift card email sent from a close friend. It is precisely because of all of the unhappy moments—the ones I’ve listed above and the ones I carry close to my heart—that this moment was so precious, and why I’m still smiling this morning after stepping on another Lego piece at 0400!
Daily Meditation:
Opening up our hearts and writing about ourselves online, while blindly attempting to live up to the expectations of others, makes all of this social media stuff kinda less than truthful at times.
CultFit 
I love this post!
Thank you so much! Authenticity is a topic I keep coming back to for some reason, its not that what I see around me bugs me per se … Its just that, well, life kinda stinks at times and its totally cool to talk about it with others. Here’s to a beautiful weekend ahead – Cheers!!!
Very wise words… 🙂
I’m continually in awe of your kindness and support – Thank you 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Are you single parenting? I did and know it can be challenging. And BTW…I eat PB by the spoonful…right out of the jar 🙂
Our family has a crazy schedule with either myself or my wife always going back and forth to “somewhere” 🙂
I’m good for at least one jar of PB a week, maybe two during the summer! Take care this evening and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Glad to hear you’ve got help raising your son. I’ve just never read you mentioning your wife at all. Also, glad to know I’m not the only one who could go through an entire jar of PB or almond butter in a week 🙂 Have a great weekend!
I’ve been involved with working with kids since 1970 and love the nine year old age….still innocent and yet intellectually able to understand a great deal!
Social media is a funny beast isn’t? I actually wrote a post last week in defence of social media – but I totally hear what you’re saying. We are more inspired to share the golden bits of our lives than the #shitty bits. In some ways I think it’s good to focus on the positive – but I know in my own writing I strive for the whole picture, which includes suffering, anger, disappointment and strife. I guess some forms of media support that more than others :). And…I hear you about 9 (or in my case 10) year old sons being a source of angst. 😳
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping over and sharing a really thoughtful comment! If we were to broaden our discussion, and talk about bringing balance into our lives and what not? Here’s the deal and I apologize for the self-serving tone (a conversation best had in person I suppose) … As much as being positive rocks and fills our lives with warmth and all sorts of warm fuzzes. Past failure(s), daily shit, rogue 9 year old’s, getting handed the wrong drink order at Starbucks and not figuring it out until you are almost home and the drink is cold? Sucks! Yet, its in these uncomfortable moments in life that we are offered the opportunity to pause and reflect, and they provide with perspective that we desperately need at times. Thank you for hearing my little rant 😉
Take care and please be well this morning 🙂
Don’t fret the elections too much brother, at least the adults are in charge now. We might even get a budget this year (first in six years btw).
The local elections here have been a train wreck and quite sadly – Fun and entertaining to watch! I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend and that the cold weather raging through our neck of the woods, manages a way to skirt around where you are at – Take care!
Thanks brother. Weekend was quite nice, not much riding but it was enjoyable. Cold lands on Wednesday and it’s going to be NASTY. At least it was a stellar year. Thanks my friend.
I am going to quote some of your wise words in my next post and will add a link to yours. Didn’t think you’d mind…..
BB
No worries! Pulling back the proverbial curtain here just a smidgen – What I “try” to present is a free flowing blog with little rhyme or reason as to how the conversation goes. Everything you see here is open source and free to do as you please. My only real hope is that by engaging our lives in a deeper sense, we can bring about real and lasting change to “whatever”, and not just marinating in this beautiful thing called life. 🙂
It’s so nice that you have friends who’ll give you gift cards out of the blue (I’m guessing) :). And I get not wanting to post it on social media sites, and being excited to talk about it here. I may be crucified for writing this, but if it were me, I wouldn’t “Twerp” (hahaha!) it because then I’d feel like I’m cheapening the moment.
… Completely out of the blue and I’m still smiling this very morning, partly because of the gift and mostly due to you stopping over and hanging out for a spell. 🙂 May your heart be filled with warmth and happiness this morning – Take care!