This is what it's all about.

This is what it's all about.

I love when situations or people surprise me– in good ways.  I’m not fond of times when people surprise me in bad ways or when people do things that I am shocked about or disappointed in… but I love when I am caught of guard by a good deed or a nice gesture.  For example, a friend of mine did me a favor right before I left my old job and went on to work at a new company– she wrote something for me that was better than I ever could have written and I could tell she put so much thought and time into making it unique and personal.  This meant a lot to me.  I’m not sure that she realizes how grateful I was/am for that, but I have thought about it quite a few times since.

I think that it’s so easy to get caught up in the monotony of everyday life that you sometimes need a surprise to wake up you again and remind you that life isn’t always predictable.  The beauty of life is that you never know where it will lead you.  Sometimes people that you thought you’d never see again end up playing starring roles in your life years later.  I hate to say it, but sometimes people that I have doubted at one time or another go on to surprise me and make me realize that I shouldn’t have doubted them.  This reminds me never to doubt people unless they give you a reason to do so…and to never sell yourself short.

The other day I got home to find a package waiting for me from my dad in Alabama.  Since he didn’t tell me he was going to be sending me something, I was excited to see what was in the box! 

Well, I opened it and saw that it was a hard-cover journal he found that I had given my grandma (Grammy) in 1998 for Christmas.  It was a gratitude journal with pages that were meant to be filled in by the recipient.  She certainly did a good job of adding detailed entries with little highlighted sections and scraps of paper when she had no more room.  She wrote down a lot of little things in her life that were going on… the people that came by to visit her, the things she did, what the calendar dates signified (like anniversaries or days she lost loved ones), the temperature outside, and even highlighted over the days that I called her next to a little smiley face she drew in (which was almost every single day).

I was so glad to get this book.  It is now one of the most special things I own– one of the things I would grab if there were a fire.  I love that my dad knew it would mean a lot to me and sent it, I love that he held on to it, and I love that he didn’t tell me he found it before he sent it.  Getting it in the mail made my day (maybe even made my week).  I was tempted to sit down and read the whole thing, but am forcing myself to read it slowly and enjoy the fact that the little things were enough to keep her completely happy…100% content with her beautiful, simple life.