The other day, I noticed that a small but annoying ailment had cleared up.
I won’t get too personal, but the problem had vexed me in tiny ways for nearly a year. I went to doctors and tried multiple medications and over-the-counter remedies.
Nothing worked until something did.
I wish I knew exactly when my problem vanished. That would be a day worth celebrating.
I’m not thinking about having cake or ice cream, but it’d be a fine day to stop and say, “My tiny trouble went away a year ago today.”
All my life I’ve heard about stopping to smell the roses, but I have a spotty history of following through.
Years ago, leaders at my old company studied the book, “Good to Great.” I asked the CEO for a copy.
It could’ve been a case of brown-nosing on my part. But I was big into self-help books in those days, so my request could’ve been a legitimate desire to improve myself and increase my value to the company.
It turned out the book wasn’t for me. I get stressed out when trying to be great. It was difficult to start a project when the end result was supposed to be out of this world.
I learned that I get more done when I aim to do good work. The idea of great work gums up the system. I admire anybody who’s world-class at anything. The pressure to perform must be massive.
Over the years, I’ve dedicated myself to finding ways to avoid that pressure while still getting the job done.
The best tool I’ve found in that effort is to enjoy as many things as I possibly can during the course of my day.
If the sun’s out, that’s nice.
If it’s rainy, that’s good because we could always use the rain.
If someone cuts me off in traffic, I cuss them like a sailor, which isn’t a good thing, but nobody’s perfect.
For a while there, I was on a serious gratitude kick because all of the literature about having a happy life involves being grateful for things you have rather than worrying about what you don’t have.
At the height of my gratitude days, I became focused on my socks.
Almost all of my socks are gifts from my in-laws, and as I put them on, I would think how lucky I got in the in-law lottery. I actually enjoy their company, but I have a number of friends and family members who weren’t so lucky.
It’s no great teaching to say that if you take time to appreciate the pleasant things around you, you’ll probably feel better about life.
But I find myself getting lost in the canyons of my mind, and that’s not a pretty place to be. The scenery isn’t as cool as you’d expect for a place called “canyons of the mind.”
Real canyons? They’re fantastic.
The mental kind? Steer clear if you can.
Isn’t it odd that a lot of life is about simply remembering to do what makes life better for ourselves and those around us?
Thanksgiving is not far away. It might have been better to write this column closer to turkey day.
But I remembered that my little problem wasn’t a problem anymore and needed to celebrate my hard-won relief.
In addition, I successfully cracked four eggs with one hand without breaking a yolk or getting bits of shell mixed in.
So, yeah, life is good.
M. Scott Morris is a former editor of The South Alabamian. He’s a writer and editor living in Tupelo, Mississippi.
