These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

When you go through difficult times, it somehow seems natural to lean right into the sadness and the hurt….but you must not forget to see all the goodness that is available to you all the time and all the blessings delivered to you each and every day. What a wonderful, wonderful ride I’m on…

Someone once brought to my attention that everything is my “favorite”. I have indeed been known to repeat the phrase, “Oh, that’s my favorite!”...a lot.

How can so many things be my favorite? That’s simply how my grateful, joy-filled brain works! I suppose I should tweak the phrase and say, "That's one of my favorites," but I've decided that I won't...because it's true…at that moment it is my favorite.

I continue to learn so much about myself on this journey… I'm sure this list only scratches the surface…but what a lovely surface He created...I'm happy with this version me...and so grateful for those who help me see myself through their eyes and regularly encourage me to see myself through His eyes.

Oh, that’s my favorite:

Christ
My children
Laughing with my children
Hearing an unsolicited "I love you" from my children
Getting those hugs that almost hurt from my children
The way I feel after having a real prayerful conversation with Jesus
Poetry
Feeling safe
Being appreciated
Being trusted with another's insecurities and secrets
The comfort I feel knowing I'm protecting someone
Knowing there is money to pay the bill that just arrived
A full pantry and refrigerator
Smiling
Joy
Sunshine
Butterflies
Snuggling
Warmth
The way it feels to drop everything because someone needs me
Being outside on a warm day
Long, wet kisses
A shiny, clean sink
Touch
Skin
Making the mundane fun
Speaking words of encouragement
Hearing words of encouragement
Slow dancing
The fact that beauty is wherever you seek it
Positive Attitudes
Genuinely nice people
Other people's smiles
People lit from within
People who make me feel lit from within
Rearranging the furniture to make it feel more conversational and intimate
My 40s
A big front porch
Bubble baths
Geraniums
Writing poetry
Reading
Old, beat up furniture
Traveling by car...with a destination in mind...but a flexible schedule and route
The intimacy that naturally flows after long, difficult conversations
Tree swings
The feeling of empowerment when I'm completely comfortable and can allow myself to just be me
The sound of the ocean, a waterfall, a rushing river or a trickling stream
Having friends that are smarter and more creative than I, but manage to make me feel just as smart and creative
People who don't mind that there are things I don't understand...and have the patience to enlighten me
Learning....I want to know...I love information
A signal, touches, glances and words that no one but the two of us understand
To do lists
Thoughtfulness
Laughing until I cry
Seeing anything handwritten by someone I love
Being in a boat with the sun warming my skin
The way soft sand on the shore feels beneath my feet
The first sip of coffee each day
Buttercream Frosting
Oreos
Billie Holiday
Dinah Washington
Michael Buble
Jane Monheit
Trisha Yearwood
ACDC
“Walkin’ on Sunshine” by the Pretenders
Daisies...every variety
Great big armfuls of wildflowers
Children
Reading old poetry
Running farther than I ever thought I could
Personal Records
The way the pages of old books feel
Finding words written by someone else in old books
The NIV version of the Bible
Singing in church
Words
Music
Singing by myself in front of a mirror with my hairbrush
Listening to music very loudly in the car and singing along as if the windows weren't clear
Quotes
Song lyrics
Lips
Strong hands
Nice feet
High-heeled shoes
The feeling you get at the exact moment that you've bumped into a similar soul
The way that the scent of another clings to you after the hug is over
The colors red and yellow
The feel and smell of sheets hung on the line to dry
Post it notes and highlighters
Organized closets and drawers
Having time to enjoy cooking
Big windows
Houses with lots of natural light
Wide-plank pine floors that are scratched and dimpled with memories
Old aprons
Anything that belonged to my grandparents
A large window above the kitchen sink
Being able to park in the garage
Finding something perfect, very expensive and beautiful at a hugely discounted price
Preparing all the stuff needed for a party at my home
Having people over and making them feel so at home that they take off their shoes and put their feet up on the furniture
The way the house looks just before the company arrives...the way the house looks just after they leave with the evidence of a wonderful visit left behind
Reading work related non-fiction
Reading fictional books about love
The satisfaction of a job well done
That feeling in my stomach on the way down the steep hill of a roller coaster
Making people feel as if they are exactly what you needed at the very moment you see them or hear from them
Finding something good in a bad situation or a difficult person...even when it seems impossible
That terrifying and satisfying feeling I get by choosing to live with my heart wide open
The way the kick drum booms and makes your heart vibrate when listening to live rock music
Live music...all kinds
The saucy way it makes me feel to wear something beautiful that no one else can see
Seeing people together who obviously truly love each other
Looking through antique stores and imagining where the items have been and wondering about the people who owned them
Days that are so shiny that you want to turn your face toward the sun to soak up the happiness
Thunderstorms that awaken you in the middle of the night
The beauty of lightening
Very cold watermelon in half moon slices on a very hot summer day
The feeling that I imagine will come when I'm comfortable and trust that the "whole" of me (perky, happy, smart, forgetful, distracted, insecure, vulnerable, bossy, submissive, honest, gullible, dark, deep....etc.) is loved, cherished and understood.
The view from a balcony
Realizing there is plenty of time


Hope Floats

Song, "To Make You Feel My Love", Trisha Yearwood

Bernice Pruitt: My dad says that childhood is the happiest time of my life. But, I think he's wrong. I think my mom's right. She says that...
[Bernice's voice fades as Birdee takes over]
Birdee Pruitt: [laughing] Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome. That's what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will, too...
Justin: You used to be so...audacious, bold. People would stop in the street and watch you walk...You think you've lost it, but I can still see it. Bill can't see that.

Birdee: Once upon a time, your momma knew what it meant to shine.


The Notebook

Song, "I'll Be Seeing You" , Billie Holiday

Young Allie: Mmm-hmm. Most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncin' around in my head... but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet.


Young Allie: Stay with you? What for? Look at us, we're already fightin'
Young Noah: Well that's what we do, we fight... You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you are a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you're back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing.
Young Allie: So what?
Young Noah: So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once; I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out.


Young Noah: My Dearest Allie. I couldn't sleep last night because I know that it's over between us. I'm not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I'll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent the summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give to you forever. I love you. I'll be seeing you. Noah



Noah: I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough.


Young Allie: [after making love to Noah for the first time] You gotta be kiddin' me. All this time, that's what I've been missin'? Let's do it again.


Duke: She had come back into his life like a sudden flame; blazing and streaming into his heart. Noah stayed up all night contemplating the certain agony he knew would be his if he were to lose her twice.


Shakespeare in Love


Viola De Lesseps: [to her Nurse] I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. No... not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love - like there has never been in a play.

[after making love]
Viola De Lesseps: I would not have thought it: there IS something better than a play!
William Shakespeare: There is.
Viola De Lesseps: Even your play.
William Shakespeare: Hmm?
Viola De Lesseps: And that was only my first try.


[last lines]
William Shakespeare: My story starts at sea... a perilous voyage to an unknown land... a shipwreck... the wild waters roar and heave... the brave vessel is dashed all to pieces, and all the helpless souls within her drowned... all save one... a lady... whose soul is greater than the ocean... and her spirit stronger than the sea's embrace... not for her a watery end, but a new life beginning on a stranger shore. It will be a love story... for she will be my heroine for all time. And her name will be Viola.

Viola De Lesseps: I love you, Will, beyond poetry.


Today’s Silver Linings: Being chosen as His is my favorite. Seeing the blessings that come from difficult times. Having SO many favorites!