As much fun as I have posting in the pet peeves thread, I notice that it can put me in a negative headspace. I thought I’d start this thread in an attempt to celebrate the things we love in life.
I’ll start…
Today heading north on 13th East, a kind stranger let me merge when she didn’t have to. I always love that.
I also love having conversations with people over things we are mutually passionate about.
I love watching a movie and after a few minutes in I know I’m watching something awesome.
I had some health problems in the fall of 2022, as a result of a spine injury, and worse, a heart arrhythmia condition brought on by the steroids I was prescribed to control the inflammation in my back. Now, about 16 months later, I’m thankfully getting better little by little.
It’s been extremely difficult as my activity levels have been severely limited in many ways, and frankly, I fell into the trap of feeling sorry for myself and being angry at the world over my predicament. Those attitudes, were poison for me and it took me a while to realize that I needed to start looking at the world from the opposite perspective.
So the thing I remind myself every morning and work on each day, is incorporating gratitude into everything I encounter somehow. I no longer complain about being unable to walk even medium distances without creating back and leg pain, instead, I remind myself how incredibly lucky I am that I can still ride a bicycle, as long and far as I want. I am extremely grateful for that lucky bit of fortune, as I’ve been a dedicated and passionate cyclist for 25 years.
Gratitude - worth it’s weight in gold.
Now for the specific thing I love - I regularly ride my bike through the Avenues, over Capital Hill, and out toward, often to the Great Salt Lake and back. My return trip takes me up the very steep hill at 300 North on the West side of Capital Hill. It’s a killer hill, and when I reach the top, without fail, always, the light changes just as I get to the intersection which allows me to can keep riding and cool my legs a bit on the level ground at the top.
Of course it’s a major coincidence, and one of these days, I’ll miss the light. But for now I love feeling like the universe is doing me a small favor
My firm held a partner retreat and during an all-attendees session we had a guest speaker, a Harvard prof, who spoke about gratitude. I’ll dig up my notes and find his name. He made a remarkable suggestion: When we wake up every morning, pause to think of three things we’re grateful for–avoid the news, social media, the coming day’s problems and worries, and so forth. Save those for later.
That is something we’d expect to hear in church, but he wasn’t approaching the subject of gratitude religiously. He recited a number of scientific studies showing how gratitude benefits us all psychologically and emotionally, and can “set the day” for us. His presentation had a profound effect on our group, which consisted of adults from every imaginable ethnic, religious, political, racial classification and sexual orientation.
I don’t always remember to follow his advice but when I do I must admit it has a positive impact on my day. So thank you for reminding me,
My wife has taught me carefully, and repeatedly, that the bed is a piece of furniture, and must always look neat and well attended-to. I usually remember that.
I love watching every sunrise and sunset I can. During COVID I had terrible insomnia so I got to watch the sunrise every day for a while. I believe that experience fundamentally changed how I viewed life.
I’m not a morning person, so I rarely experience sunrises. I had a boss once who told me that dawn, if you’re outside in nature even in an urban setting, is a magical few minutes that should never be missed. The world waking up, particularly the birds, which are everywhere, does evoke a feeling that humans have forever experienced and enjoyed.
I never make it a point to get up to enjoy, but when I’m occasionally up anyway, I always marvel at the experience.
Sunrises and sunsets are one of the simple treasures in life. So many morning/evenings, you get that brief magical moment lasting just a few minutes, and every time it is unique and different than the previous date.
In the springtime, seeing and hearing the kids at an elementary school playground outside during recess. No, i am not a pedophile, just like to see kids having fun.
there are a couple people that I interact with nearly every day that have a great natural sense of humor. They both missed their callings as comedy writers/performers. Just speaking to them and laughing puts me in a good mood.
JK Huysmans, Charles Bukowski, Robert Heinlein, Wallace Stegner, Emile Zola, Edward Abbey, Kurt Vonnegut, John Fante, Don DeLillo, Hal Hartley, Ingmar Bergman, Lars von Trier, Bobby Sands, and Bill Murray