The Sweetest Things

 The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.  Robert Louis Stevenson

When I was growing up, my favorite weekly chore was cleaning the bathroom. Yep, an odd choice. There were two things about it which made it my fave: it was the littlest room, and the results were sparklingly obvious. 

I would go about my task with vigor, scrubbing everything, everywhere. It didn’t take a terribly long time, and nobody in the family of 6 were particularly sloppy in their bathroom habits (but then, I didn’t have a blacklight - that may have changed things, but I doubt it). Everything was washable, including my hands afterwards. The room would fairly glow as much as my pride in my work, as I called my mom to come take an obligatory look around. There was something wonderful in feeling like I had done a good job at even this potentially icky task.

I can fall under the spell of ‘bigger equals better’, or wanting more than I have while not noticing the abundance at hand right now. How easy it is to ignore those sweet things when my head is filled with thoughts of lack or not being “good” enough. I live in a rather small one-bedroom apartment, stuffed to the gills with enough to make an apartment twice as large feel fully used, and yet I can feel the need to bring more into it. Why can I sometimes not find satisfaction in all that I have right now?

I lack for nothing. I have all I need with enough to share. In this moment, I recognize that real abundance, and am grateful for it. 

Food, shelter, plenty of extras, and all the souls who bless my life—these are truly the sweetest things.