a friend from my old career days asked if i was going to be at cha (it’s this huge craft show in our industry) this weekend… and i told her, “oh no that ship has sailed.” you know, there are times when i think i’ve missed the boat. truthfully though, nothing beats my view and company from right hear at port kilo! i don’t think i can ever say my artist career days are over, and i’ve got some pretty good ideas up my sleeve, but i am taking time to reinvent my art style…and for now, i am just enjoying this season of my life. yesterday after church, we painted and listened to music all day. i experimented with watercolor and canvas, and with these very thoughts in mind created this piece. ok, and seriously…who wouldn’t enjoy these little gems!
this is a…big…no huge change, and there are definitely days i fight that change…and i sometimes catch myself thinking the grass is greener on the other side…so do remeber this story when those thoughts creep in.
i was instantly smitten by him, and we bumped into each other a few more times as we were shopping. through our short interactions his story started to unfold. he has recently moved into a small apartment by himself, and told me that his grand daughters were there visiting and went though his cupboards and told him he had to start eating healthier…he told me that they had got rid of almost all of his groceries. then told him that he could only shop at healthy stores from now on. they had given him a list of healthy do’s and don’ts.
he was so charming as he asked questions about different ingredients and different health benefits of certain kinds of foods. one of the things he told me was that his granddaughters told him he had to switch to almond butter instead of peanut butter. he thought that was crazy, until i agreed that is is a more healthy option, and then he resigned to agree. he asked me to walk him over and show him exactly what to buy. i asked if he liked chunky or smooth, and he told me he liked chunky peanut butter better, so he’d probably like chunky almond butter better too…i had to chuckle to myself when he said, “unless of course smooth almond butter is a healthier option, then i better get that?” i told him i thought he’d be just fine with chunky.
we chatted about a few more healthy options he could purchase to restock his cupboards, checked out, and then he graciously helped me to the car and loaded my groceries for me while i tended to silver.
what a great example of someone willing to embrace change! i got the impression he’d been eating the same foods his whole life, and carried on in the same old routine…but a sudden change had left him alone and when told by his young grand daughters a new way to eat, he embraced it. he embraced it with enthusiasm, and determination.
it made me think about the changes i have made in my life over the last few years, few months and even few days. some changes have been huge, and others quite minor…some change is self prescribed and other change was placed on me with no choice at all. today a freind reminded me that sometimes, things just happen. we don’t always know the reason, but we can take peace in knowing that we can control is our attitude toward those happenings.
my thoughts this morning are…stop surviving change, and instead embrace it.