the thin line between optimism and delusion…

Obviously there are obvious things you don’t appreciate till they are gone(obviously).  Things like health, etc.  One of my favorite quotes is "Sleep, riches, and health, to be truly enjoyed, must be interrupted" – Johann Paul Richter. 

I didn’t realize how much I really loved my sonicare toothbrush until I lost it.  I recognized that I liked it a lot, but I don’t think I really really appreciated the serious awesomeness of it. 

But I’m not talking about losing things.  I’m talking about things slowly going away.  Like a bar of soap.  Or a sharp razor.  Or hot coffee.  Or frozen ice cream.  Or a cold beer.  Things that slowly slip away from you.  Being in shape.  Not being tired. 

Let’s take my car for instance.  Love my car.  But it is getting a little older.  So whenever the little check oil light comes on, I have a mini panic attack.  Because, it might just be that I need a quart or an oil change, but if I take it in they might find something big wrong with it.

Every time I get my oil changed and my tires checked and the whole car physical taken care of and I drive my little car out of the foreign car hospital, I feel great.  And I know that I don’t have to feel guilty about not taking care of my car anymore.  This makes me happy.   

It is the same way you forget how great it is to have clean sheets on your bed until you change them.  Or how awesome a new bar of soap feels, after having dealt with the little soap sliver.  I think you need the soap sliver to appreciate the new full bar of soap.  You need the hot sip of your beer on the beach to appreciate how awesome the beer you pulled from the bottom of the cooler tastes.  If someone changed the sheets on your bed every day, you might stop appreciating them.  Not that I’m advocating long periods of time between changing your sheets, because I am most definitely not.  And I hope everyone can agree that there are few things worse than cold coffee in your mug.  Sometimes you have to run out of gas to appreciate how easy it is to obtain gasoline (even if it expensive).  Having a cell phone whose battery has a talk life of about 15 minutes means that when I get a new cell phone in a few weeks, I will appreciate the battery life of my new cell phone for at least a few days.  (oh, and I’m going to run over my old phone with my car.  I can’t decide if I want to run over it going forward, or going backwards.  Bizzy and I have been discussing the possibilities, which also include a hammer). 

Sometimes happiness is in the contrast.    

I’m not always real good at saying my prayers at night.  But one thing I do every night, when I get into bed, I have a moment of sheer bliss at the fact that I am in a warm safe bed with lots of pillows and a couple stuffed animals and that I have the opportunity to sleep without interruptions until the morning.  I don’t always appreciate the hot coffee.  Or the cold beer. Or the new soap.  Or the gas station. Or a new razor.  Or my precious ipod shuffle.    But I always appreciate this moment of security and comfort

Sometimes, happiness is in the blankets.

(sometimes, I’m so ADD even I can’t follow my own thoughts.)

Other things appreciated (after conversation with jennifer)-
– a new toothbrush
– a clean car
– sunglasses that don’t slip off your head
–  freshly cut grass
–  new music on ipod
–  a credit card with a $0 balance (as opposed to a debit card with the same balance)
–  a new novel
–  the first bite of a krispy creme doughnut before you start feeling sick
–  new running shoes
–  clean laundry
–  friday afternoon.