Today was a pretty good day. I can make that statement with certainty, because I've had some really terrible days in the past few months. Days when I literally had to make life and death decisions for people I loved. Days when I had to sort through the belongings of those same people and decide what they should be buried in. Days when I sat staring at lists of bills and endlessly adding up numbers in my head, trying to make the bottom lines come out somewhere within arms reach.
But today wasn't that kind of day at all. Oh, there were frustrations. At work, one of our client's appointments got moved up from next week to tomorrow, which necessitated that I drop everything I had planned to do for the day and get all their paperwork and medical records in order. At home, the pork tenderloin I planned to cook for dinner smelled a trifle off, and so I had to come up with something else.
Everyday dilemmas, quite delightful in their normalcy.
It's all about perspective, isn't it? The things that once seemed insurmountable often pale in comparison to the real trials and traumas of life. I suppose that's one of the gifts of growing older, having enough experience of life's vicissitudes to really understand what's traumatic and what's nothing more than an annoyance.
I can be grateful for the small trials and tribulations like todays, because I've had days of such overwhelming sadness. I can wrap myself around the small moments of happiness - like watching the sun glinting on a pile of golden leaves, or seeing Magic curl up next to Molly and prop his head on her back. I can laugh out loud at my friend's jokes, and revel in the sound of Bon Jovi turned up full blast on my car stereo. I can (almost) stop being afraid of what the day will bring.
Today was a pretty good day.
I hope it was for you too.