There is Something Good in Every Day - Part II

“Every day may not be a good day but there is something good in every day.” – Anonymous – Part II

My thrice-weekly walks are the means of accomplishing my previously mentioned goal of rebuffing weight gain during the stay at home period.  They also are tremendous periods of affirmation, meditation and prayer.  Some days, I listen to audio books through Librivox, a consortium of volunteers who record books in the public domain to assist persons with disabilities and literacy challenges.  Delightfully, my writing muse joins me.  She graciously and bountifully shares inspiration for blog columns and other writing projects.  A long walk is a good antidote to writer’s block, need of a transition, lack of focus or failure to conceive the next big idea.  I ended the walk with the purchase of much needed items of milk, bleach and dish towels.  Shockingly, I paid four times the regular price for generic bleach and twice the amount of a name brand.  The price gouging during this market, financial and employment crisis is reprehensible.  I hope consumers through their purchasing choices and powers in the post coronavirus world will punish retailers and manufacturers who committed such cruel, greedy, heartless and unnecessary deeds.  Upon returning to the house, I attended to the laundry that I had begun and took a shower before feasting upon those finger licking ribs.  For the foregoing mundane activities, I am profoundly grateful because I find sheer joy and fun in them.

My greatest thanksgiving extends to God for my family.  As we had dinner with my son on his birthday, I looked at him with a heart of love and admiration.  The baby who spit up on me multiple times on countless occasions is now an adult who is progressing in a career and planning to achieve superlatively in life.  I hurl myself down memory lane and recall the first day that I took care of him by myself.  My wife had laid out four outfits for the day.  Due to my inability to get him to burp, two of the outfits were soaked with infant “upchuck” by ten that morning.  In utter frustration, I yelled, “My God, would you please stop spitting up milk?”  He started crying as he sensed how upset I was.  Then, I picked him up and said, “Baby boy, your mother is not here.  It’s just you and me and we have to stick together.”  We both calmed down and spent an enjoyable remainder of the day together.  In returning to the present, I relish the extended conversations that we have about business and entrepreneurship.  Honestly, I continue to learn a lot about stewardship of money, time, talent and other important resources from my son.  As another author suggests, our children personify a window to the world that would never have opened had we not been blessed to have them.

At the table, I thanked my wife and daughter for respectively cooking the meal and making the birthday cake.  Within the next few weeks, we celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.  It seems as if a quarter of a century passed like the morning.  I still remember the very first time I ever saw my wife.  That memory is indelible.  I recall what she was wearing, her hair style, jewelry and shoes.  To me, she does not age as I vividly remember the beautiful and attractive woman whom I saw on that day and would marry.  The intervening years have affirmed my intuitive impression that I met “the right one.”  Whereas the bond between a father and son is formidable, the connection that a father and daughter share is equally powerful.  My daughter regrettably ends her senior year of high school in a pandemic thereby being deprived of a senior prom and formal graduation ceremonies.  Still, she exemplifies impressive discipline as she completes her work through e-learning.  I greatly admire her academic excellence, vocal talents, commitment to friendship even with undeserving persons and willingness to perform labors of love for our family.  From time to time, I evaluate my service to ascertain whether it equals hers.  I possess indelible memories of my daughter, too.  I proudly see the toddler who came into the church fellowship hall and immediately ran to me.  I always felt truly special and important.  In recompense, I strive to make her feel as important as she is to her mother, brother and me.  Unquestionably, my daughter is a gift to the world.  I look forward to witnessing how her unique contribution to the betterment of humankind unfolds.

I hope my recollection of my average day with millions of reasons and experiences to be grateful convinces you of the anonymous author’s correctness.  Indeed, “There is something good in every day.”  Hopefully, you can investigate your mental file and find memories of hard days that still had one great experience that parallels a diamond in the rough.  As a chaplain in a hospital, I witness people make peace with God thereby enabling them to transition to eternal life without guilt, regret or fear.   Additionally, I have observed profound acts of forgiveness as people lie in their deathbeds.  A church custodian was terminated summarily because a new pastor insisted that all employees have college degrees.  As this unemployed man walked home, he observed a strange phenomenon.  He saw a lot of smokers and people reading daily newspapers.  Interestingly, he did not notice any places that sold tobacco products and papers for several blocks.  His entrepreneurial spirit erupted and he secured the funds and permits to open a kiosk for a block between stores selling cigarettes, papers and beverages.  In time, he acquired multiple kiosks and became a millionaire.  His business idea was the pearl of great price that lay within his unconscious.  His unjust firing created the venue for him to discover it.  Some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs found something good within what otherwise was a terrible day.