just pay attention.

this work week i've exuded great effort in the morning. i wake up on time, get ready efficiently and have time to sit and watch the today show while consumning my oatmeal and coffee. i leave at a comfortable time and get to work with minutes to spare. it's been a good, stress free week of mornings.

until today.

this morning went as previously mentioned. however. as i was leaving my house i ran through my mental checklist. coffee? check. lunch?* check. ID? check. good to go. i turn off the lights, make sure the door is locked (from the inside), and shut the door. as i do this i realize my car is locked, my house is locked. and my keys are inside. i whispered a quiet curse word into the cold stillness of the morning and freaked.

i call my roommate, who at 7:40 is already teaching, no answer. i call adam who i know is sleeping, but phew he answers. what do i do? no one knows. so i decide my roommate's parents house is close by, i'm sure they have a key. after walking in the bitter cold down to their house, no one is home. so i asked adam what i didn't want to have to ask; to come get me. what a great bf.

but here is the glass half full part, the silver lining if you will. as i sat on the front porch of a semi-unfamiliar family's house FREEZING, i decided this didn't matter. i would be a little late to work, i would be a little cold, but this is not life-threatening. i am alive and fine. as decide this, i look across the still, quiet street and see a huge red cardinal sitting in a bush that is just twigs. it was stunning. then i looked overhead and saw a flock of geese flying just above the tree line. it was so still and quiet that i could hear their great wings flapping. the beauty of the morning had captured me. the line from the mary oliver poem just pay attention came to mind.

if i had chosen to become worked up, frustrated and obsessed with looking at the clock i would've missed it.
but choosing peace, choosing to be in the moment, i discovered a bit of life that i wouldn't have disovered otherwise. i thank God for that. also coffee.

AMEN.

*after finally getting to work, i realized i only remembered a part of my lunch - forgetting my lean cusine has left me with a diet coke, an apple and yogurt.