Taste and Smell

Here's a "little thing" to appreciate.  The taste and smell of an orange.  Seriously!  Have you in recent days actually taken a moment to smell and taste your food?  Most often I'm rushing to the next thing and forget to enjoy the experience of eating.  I dare you to take a moment today to truly enjoy one thing.

Lesson learned:

• Using your senses enhance quality of life.  Taking a moment to enjoy that is a chance to make some happy.  ;-)

Birthdays & Family

Had my big 4-0 party on Friday.  Loads of fun and many great friends showed up.  I felt loved and I will not take that for granted!

I also had a visit from my father and step-mother.  They came to visit me around 4 1/2 years ago.  We've chatted a bit here and there, but to be honest I felt a little nervous about what we would do or talk about.  To my surprise, the visit was superb!  We had conversations, laughed, and generally had a good time.  This is a great step to building a more solid relationship with my father.  Things have been so distant and weird for so long.  I will be holding on to this weekend for a little while.  ;-)

Lesson learned:

• Appreciate the support and love sent your way
• People and things change, be open to it

Doctor Love

Here's a surprise.  I set up my doctor's appointment for the middle of February for my big 4-0  check-up.  My doctor contacted me via email and suggested I move my appointment from Duke to her office in Southpoint to save money by avoiding a building fee.  One, a building fee?  Two, how awesome is she? 

Now that is a little thing to appreciate.

Lesson learned:

• People can surprise you.  Notice and appreciate.  ;-)

Half full

Haven't been feeling very inspired, which is a lesson in itself.  The little things have been escaping me lately.  I believe this means I need to open my eyes and heart a little more.  With turning the big 4-0 this Sunday, I am paying more attention to what is in my life.  I just need to turn those focuses on what's positive. 

In fact, my goal for this week is to find just one tiny little thing and let it in.  I'll let you know what I find.

Lesson learned:

• Try to keep eyes peeled to the positive things.  So often we can get in the habit of focusing on then negative.

First day

Today is the first day of second semester classes and it has started out really well.  The nature of the course I'm teaching, Small Business Entrepreneurship (Honors), brings a certain type of student and vibe.  I've had such a rough time of it with some behavior problems last semester that this is a nice break.  Makes me remember that in order to appreciate the positive things in our lives we need to negative.  If all was perfect all the time, we'd be bored.

Lesson of the day:

• Appreciate the good and bad, they both have their place in life.

Inspiration from a Cartoonist

For those that don't know, I teach an online class through LearnNC based out of UNC.  Most of the classes have been fairly routine with not much in the way of inspiration.  Today was different.  All students at the beginning of the course are to state three good things in the forums.  Today a student posted a story from Chicken Noodle Soup For The Soul.  The story spoke of a young man who was bit by the cartooning bug.  He loved drawing cartoons and wanted to pursue this as a career.  On a fluke he wrote a cartoonist about how to go about pursuing this goal.  To the young man's surprise the cartoonist replied and provided that information with some inspiration as well.  Years passed and the young man did get discouraged and quit.  Again on a fluke the cartoonist wrote the now older young man asking if he stuck to his dream.  This really inspired the man and he pursued his dream again to great success.

After reading this story, a number of students began replying with their own experiences.  It truly touched me and helped move me toward not just spotting the little things, but acting on them as well.

Thank you students for inspiring me.  ;-)

Brian

Drooooid!

I have happily received a new phone after two years yesterday.  Super excited!  I know this isn't a huge deal for most and there are more important things going on in the world right now, but man, I love this phone.

Lesson learned:

• This is a little thing to appreciate and that's okay.