I looked outside this morning and the SUN was brilliantly shining on the trees in the park behind our house. It was one of those inspiring moments … those kind where it’s super cliché to say “breath taking” but that’s kind of how you feel?

Something within me happens when I wake up in optimism and hopeful expectation for a beautiful day. I see the choices before me … today they’re laundry, weeding, writing, cleaning, and driving kids around … and even though they’re mundane daily tasks, they all look awesome!

Laundry is relaxing for me somehow. I like smelling the clean warm clothes and folding them is this methodical task that just brings me peace. When I’m doing laundry I feel blessed that we have a washer and dryer, that we have clothes to wear, that we have all that we need. It just reminds me of gratitude and why I should be and am grateful.

Weeding … it needs to get done. And our yard is big and there are lots of weeds. And we have an HOA that requires it to be kept up. But you know what? I’m OUTSIDE enjoying nature when I’m weeding. It’s peaceful because I’m just sitting and doing and thinking and there’s no pressure to hurry. I actually really like it.

Writing is always fun. Working on “work” things is creative and learning new things is expanding and it’s just always good.

And cleaning? Well, when you realize that it needs to get done, and you know how it feels when it IS done (relieving), doing it is just necessary. But I like to listen to books while I clean or if I’m doing dishes I just look at the trees from the window and it’s actually kind of relaxing. Again, I don’t have to hurry, I don’t have to stress, there’s not an expectation of getting it done in a certain way in a certain time, it’s just doing and being in the moment.

And I love my kids. Driving them around is not a chore really. They’re fun and as I sit in the pick up line at the elementary school I know that when I see their faces they’ll smile (or not) and if they don’t I will try to get them to. This morning as I dropped them off, the 9 year old was super grumpy. I told her she couldn’t leave the car until she was smiling. She glared at me. HA! Challenge accepted! I locked the doors and told her she was trapped until she smiled and that smiling is a sure fire way to lighten any mood … both she and the 5 year old laughed at the locked doors and she left the car happy.

When you treat the day as a gift -life as a joy – it BECOMES those things. Everyday waking up is exciting because you know that you are going to experience love and see beauty and have joyful moments that fill you with lightness and make the day worth living. Gratitude is present!

Some days I am not this optimistic. Some days things feel like huge terrible chores. Some days are hard. But there is always a NEW day and a NEW opportunity to rise out of the mire into the light.

I’m grateful for that. The sun rising each morning is just a witness that we CAN begin again, that we WILL have another opportunity and that no matter what … life goes beautifully on. Things come and go and I always have another moment to choose love and beauty and joy.

So today I am happy, I am joyful, I am grateful. I plan to be that tomorrow too. If I’m not? That’s ok! I know that I have the next day, or the next or the next. Each moment of each day is a chance to change my perception, to choose to shift my thoughts to love and to see the opportunity that is there.

I’m using the moments! I’m living IN the moment and feeling grateful for whatever is in that place, that spot, that time. It’s a relief to just be.

(laundry room here I come! … and yes, laundry is a constant in a house with 9 people. I guess at some point I realized I’d better just start to like it because it wasn’t going to go away! Getting the 2 1/2 load sized washer has TOTALLY helped. Seriously. Do it, it will save you a ton of time.)