Monday, January 31, 2022

The Gist for You AND Me

It's time for a new series called "The Gist for You AND Me".
Easy to write. Easy to read. And hopefully easy to get the gist.

It's an extension of my tiny 365 book where I write the happiest moment of (almost) every day. The task alone makes me look at my days differently. I note the little things that undoubtedly went unnoticed before the book. When something happens early in the day I smile and wonder if it will make the 365. And a few hours later I find myself smiling again and wondering if the first happy moment will be replaced by the second.

Last year's 365 wasn't filled with trips around the world, fancy new furniture or cool new shoes (except for that one pair).  It was filled with pizzas in the park, (real) chats in the lagoon and stress-free days in my courtyard working on my this-is-no-place-for-perfectionism Gaudi wall.

Some nights when it's time to pick the happiest moment it seems like there are none. My choice is to leave the page blank or write about the herd of cows running through the field to greet me as I ran by. These little things don't mean I have to stop dreaming about the big stuff, but if I leave too many pages blank there won't be enough to string together to see what really makes my world go round.      

If this series begins and ends with this post, I'll accept it. The important thing is I'm giving a new idea a try instead of giving up. If nothing else, that's worth writing in my 365 when I go to bed tonight.  

The Gist for You AND Me has two goals. First, to help you start discovering little things to smile about. And second, to encourage you to give someone else something to smile about. Both lead to living your days 'gist' a little differently.