Today had more food-related delights, but also an unexpected reminder. As Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus sort of said, “It’s not what happens to you but what you think about what happens to you that determines your experience.” We can’t control what happens, but we can control how we look at it.
1: Vanilla Dr. Pepper.
I confess to liking Sonic a lot because of the flavor add-ins. One of my favorites is vanilla. Simple pleasure this morning on the way to a doctor’s appointment, as you will read about next. I usually drink coffee in the morning, and really love my coffee. But knowing we were likely to stop at Sonic led me to hold off. I’m glad I did.
2: Unexpected time.
Here’s the “how we look at it” thing.
We had a doctor's appointment for my disabled daughter late this morning, but when we arrived, the doctor's office didn't have us on the schedule. I'll admit to great irritation, because we had made this appointment at their insistence (we already had one for April, but they decided they needed to see her earlier). So we made the appointment specifically for today to accommodate them.
But then: not on the schedule. They couldn’t just work us in, because the doctor was over at the hospital for a surgical procedure. So we had to reschedule.
It's at least a one-hour drive each way, so two hours gone out of the day, not to mention the weather was nasty and we had to expose a medically-fragile person to it.. Wasted time when I'm already short of time.
On the other hand, we had anticipated being out most of the day because of this appointment. Doctor visits, obviously, don't just take drive time. So even though the two hours were unnecessary today, overall I gained some unexpected time.
It has been a nice afternoon. I got a lot of work done, completed one project, and made headway toward another thing I’m doing just because I want to. None of that would have happened if the appointment had been kept.
3: Dishes washed.
You wouldn't normally think of chores as a delight. But I had really gotten behind on the dishes, and I took delight not only in having the time to deal with it (see #2), but also in the sensory experience of really seeing and feeling each dish, each fork, each glass. Do you realize how many people and how much effort a simple dinner plate requires just to exist? The people who mined the materials, who drove the trucks that delivered the raw materials (and, later, delivered them to the stores), the people who ran the machines in the factory that made it, the people who made sure the final product was properly fired, the people who put the price tags on in the store and ran the cash register when it was bought, the unknown first purchaser who may have used it for years, the people at Goodwill who did the intake—I could keep going. It’s amazing when you think about it.
Bonus.
The kitchen sink drains had been slow for days, too. After I washed the dishes I got the drain cleaner out and cleared all that. Much more satisfying. Because I was already in the mindset from washing the dishes, I actually took delight in administering the treatment, waiting the requisite time, boiling the water for the followup, and delighting in the free-flowing result.
4: Gratitude.
I was reading an article on mindfulness that reminded me of the simple practice of gratitude and its profound impact on our lives. I know this, have even started a series of gratitude lists on NotePD, but it is so easy to drift away from the practice. I realized I took delight in the reminder, and that led me to focus on several items for which I am grateful.
5: Peanut butter Oreo cookies.
Yes, food. I didn't know they were making these! My wife and son ran errands, including a couple of stores, and whenever they go out without me my wife enjoys finding interesting stuff and surprising me with it when she returns home. This was one of them.
6: Oversized sleepwear.
This was another surprise (see #5). Loose. Comfortable. And on clearance! $30 worth of sleepwear for under $6.
One of the best things to come out of the pandemic was an appreciation for such items of cocooning comfort. (I'm not happy about the pandemic, don't get me wrong. But there were a few benefits to a horrific situation.) Though we’re no longer isolated, we have learned to value that sort of comfort. I don’t know if it qualifies as hygge or not, but I certainly delighted in it.
What are some things you are delighting in?
Donn King is The Confidence Cultivator. He is a professor of communication studies (which means “a professor of standing up in front of people and saying stuff”). He’s also a pastor, a speaker, a writer, and a communication coach. He works with professionals and leaders just like you who want to speak confidently so they can increase their impact, gain influence, and build their careers. Reach out to donn at donnellking dot com if you would like to see if he could help you communicate with greater confidence.