These past few days have been a total whirlwind. Surgery went great, a few hours after I walked into the coffee shop to get a little caffeine pick-me-up, and have spent the last two days healing and recovering (but feeling so much better.) I feel like the doorbell is always ringing with another delivery of flowers and beautiful cards and emails keep landing in our inbox. The truth is, I have never felt so loved or prayed for – and it might not have happened had I not opened up about what’s going on in our world.
When is the last time you took the time to make someone’s day? I’m not talking a big thing, I’m talking as small as sending a voice note to let them know you love them or buying the next person in line coffee, sending flowers “just because” or emailing some one you’ve admired to tell them thank you. I’m learning how consuming life can be. We can let our worlds fill up so much that we can’t see out of them, but when was the last time you thought to yourself, “Hey, my day will be richer if I made someone else’s just a little bit better.” Trust me, your mom was right: you do learn to love giving more than you receive, it’s a fact of life.
Last night we were at our favorite Irish pub, Paddy Coughlins. If you know me personally, this is “the” pub that we frequent (a little too often.) We have our own mugs there with our numbers on them, the bartenders know us by name, and we may or may not have the specials memorized to make sure we don’t miss the crab cakes. This place is top notch and it makes me feel like I’m living my own episode of “Cheers” when I walk in. Oh, and did I mention that one of my best friends owns it? Erin said that she would read my blog more if I posted about her, so here you go Erin! Erin was my first friend in this town, she’s a big reason why we made the move to Fort Atkinson. She is also the most gracious and giving person I have ever met… St. Paddy’s Day is like the black Friday of Irish Pubs, so a lot of prep, time, planning, and working goes into making sure it’s perfect and smooth – but guess what? Spoiler alert: life isn’t perfect and smooth.
Yesterday the pub filled and emptied for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (with a few green beers mixed in) and it was incredible. My husband may or may not have been there more than once yesterday. Here’s the thing, the day was flawless, but there will always be at least one person who just didn’t like it. I think of the quote: “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world and someone will still hate peaches.” You quickly forget about the hundreds of happy people, the ones cheerfully drinking the green beer, and excitedly celebrating and dwell on the one, the person who maybe was just having a bad day or who woke up on the wrong side of the bed or the person who simply wishes they were Irish. Here’s what I know: It’s far too easy to forget the 99% of the good and remember every single word of the bad (you know, that 1%) We are dwellers, we forget the way that we have made people feel great, we forget the memories people have made in our presence, we forget the regulars, and the devoted fans, and we remember that 1.
Today, I challenge you this: go out of your way to make someone’s day? You don’t know what storms people are walking through, the simplest of gestures can remind someone that good people do exist, they are out there. Everyone is just doing the very best they can, we are all human (and with our humanness comes imperfection.) And just a reminder in case you forgot: You are not Nutella, you can’t make everyone happy. A little more kindness, a lot less judgement goes a long way in life, so today I challenge you to force someone to remember that 99%! Make their day so great they can’t deny that they are doing something right. We all are our own worst critics and if this past week has been any reflection on the 99% that surround me, well, I’m the damn luckiest girl on the planet.
Yes, yes and yes to all of this! And coincidently I just shared this quote today too! I’m so incredibly sorry to read about what you’ve been going through – we’re in our 11th (heartbreaking) year of trying for a family and heck yeah it’s a tough and lonely journey no matter which way you look at it! Much love and healing to you and yours! xoxo