Wonderful Wednesday #123
Gratitude on a microscopic level. The post hay fever edition!
I like a routine. To know what’s next, to plan, organise and predict. I have always been this way. I feel much more settled, as if I can fully unravel and be fully immersed and present in most things because of it.
But a lot of things can’t be planned, or pinned down or predicted or even pre-empted and, as with most things we are our best selves and function properly when there is balance. And so we learn to adapt and to thrive when there is change, alterations and sideways turns instead of just steps forwards and backwards and starts and stops. Through these times we can learn a lot. There is less time to overthink and ruminate and we have to act upon our instinct, don’t we?
In a world where so much is done for us, when lemons are freely available twelve months of the year and twenty-four hours of the day our life is far less about simply surviving like it was only a few hundred years ago. But that doesn’t make our ability to learn and to pivot any less valuable. I think it does make us re-evaluate and change our perspective though. It makes us find more value in smaller things, simpler pleasures and life’s nearly forgotten and usually mundane joys which aren’t any less joyful because they’re so normal.
I wrote to you last week about my awful allergies and, how seemingly out of nowhere and after many, many years being allergy-less; that I’d really been suffering. Most days became about simply getting through and enduring and suddenly far less about romanticising my breakfast or first cup of tea and, whilst it’s not exactly the same as surviving a serious accident or more terrible event it is a forced change of perspective and a new appreciation of those minute moments that even I—as a champion of gratitude and all its’ benefits— can forget.
So, consider this week’s list ‘some things I’m most grateful for on a microscopic level.’ Most definitely forgotten joys or re-discovered bright bits.
1 Tasting a cup of tea. Well, just taste in general. I last remember suffering this much sans taste when I had Covid. It was miserable. I love to eat and i think it really is one of life’s biggest pleasures. Food and all that it gives us and how much joy it can bring is unparalleled. I can taste my cup of tea again (for now). Praise be!
2 Solo coffee dates. Coffee I could taste. Did i mention that recently I couldn’t taste…?! My sleep has also really suffered and so some time out of the house on a bench, under a tree with some sunglasses and a big coffee has felt like even more of treat than usual. Oddly my allergies seemed fine when I was out and about.
3 Less to do. As luck(?) would have it, the warm weather spell also aligned with a freezer full of food that only really needed reheating or put together with some grains, salad bits or similar. Whilst I love eating, the cooking part is never my best bit. I have never been more grateful to past me and I’ll rarely be this organised ever again so you bet I am revelling in it. Not so much the meal plan and empty freezer that I am left with this week…
4 Damp hair and warm nights. Sleeping is my superpower and I never sleep great in the summer months (and hay fever really doesn’t help!) but, a cool shower, warm camomile tea and falling asleep with my hair still a little damp under some cool cottons is a recipe for success.
How have you coped in the heat?! I hope you aren’t also suffering with any seasonal allergies although if you are please shout as maybe I can help!! I’m behind on here but have a planned catch up tomorrow. Thank you so much if you made it this far and you took time out to read/share this. It honestly never goes unnoticed and I’m always, always grateful.
I'm so glad you're feeling better. I understand the struggle to sleep better in the warmer months. It's tough to stay asleep when you wake up sweating! So far, it's been milder here than I remember in years so I count that as a successful Summer start! My allergies are better but seem to make the rounds every other week or so. Weird. Have a wonderful week, my Friend 💛
Dear Sally, my allergies kicked in alongside the perimenopause. It’s something to do with the hormone levels. Like you I suddenly started getting hay fever and this year it has been particularly intense. Hope you’re feeling better soon.