The Unappreciated.

It’s 6:38 as I type this. I am sitting at my desk listening to birds chirp outside and my two dogs peacefully snoring, while I sip my daily morning cup of black coffee. I find it funny that human snoring sends me from 1 to 100 in 2.2 seconds, yet when dogs do it, I find it absolutely adorable. 

I use my mornings to reflect. It’s the part of my day where I am most still. No emails or texts to respond to. I am appreciating this moment of zen and grateful for where I am in my mindset right now. Appreciating being in this place after going through so much in the last few years. This is the place I used to pray for when I was going through “the shit”.

 “Please just fast forward, please just fast forward,” I remember pleading – even out loud some days – desperate for relief.

While I don’t wish going through tough times on anyone, I am grateful for how much it taught me. It taught me quite a bit about empathy, gratitude, appreciation of even the tiniest of things – and I mean, the TINIEST of things – such as sunlight gleaming through a window.  Hanging by a thread some of those days, finding something –  ANYTHING –  to be happy about was a struggle. I learned looking for these things and subsequently finding these things helped push me forward – albeit at a snail’s pace – when I never thought I would get through that period in my life. But I did. This is a practice I have carried with me (key word being practice, as I don’t think I have it fully mastered yet). Learning what you look for, you find. If you learn to appreciate the unappreciated – the sunlight bouncing off floors in front of you, or the green grass, or the birds chirping or the dogs snoozing… I promise you, if you’re going through tough times, appreciate the unappreciated and life will inevitably appreciate you back.