Small Blessings: A Meditation on One’s Own Good Fortune
Yesterday morning was different than most. I needed to drag myself out of bed, despite the gorgeous sky poking at my eyelids through my lakefront bedroom window. I wasn’t filled with my typical motivation to slip into my sandals and then into my kayak, knowing that such a business-packed day would soon commence. I made the spontaneous decision to brainwash myself into a quickie paddle-out, and then think about tackling that long day.
Ah, it was the perfect setting to rally my inner troops. The lake was as still as a mirror, and the only sounds were those of watershed nature. I was indeed the lake’s sole occupant that morning, drifting gently across its beauty in my tiny vessel as if for the first time. A peaceful mist cloaked the narrow creek that meanders from the lake’s east end, inviting me to explore. A few paddles down the passage, I was greeted by a fellow fan of the morning….a grey heron in mid-Zen trance, who quickly lifted off upon my arrival and soared gently across the sleepy canopy with a wingspan as wide as my kayak is long.
Just an impromptu, quiet paddle out into familiar territory provided an unexpected and entirely new experience that was bound to set the mood for the day ahead. Drifting back toward the beach I felt incredibly blessed….so fortunate to have access to these tranquil surroundings, and the mindset that motivates me to take daily advantage of them.
Throughout my long work day, I reacquainted with the vivid images left in my mind about that morning, and came to realize that we can all have access to small blessings in life. Turning our own individual variables into good fortune is only a spark of creativity away. With opportunity being so closely within arm’s reach, I invite everyone to rediscover life for themselves.
