Morning Coffee

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“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

I have that quote from Lau Tzu on a chalkboard above my desk. I’ll be entirely honest, I have no idea who Lau Tzu is, although I intend to look that up. However, I did come across that quote on the place all good quotes get found or ignored…the tag on a tea bag.

I did get the feel of that quote the other morning while I drank my morning coffee. I had to be up and out of the house extra early. While I was waiting on my husband to finish the lengthy early errand, I took the time to walk down to the river front park in our town. We live in a lovely historic town along the wide and wild Missouri River. Sitting on a bench, sipping coffee with eggnog (alcohol-free) instead of creamer, I took in my surroundings. The frost outlining each stem of grass and small twig all around my feet. The quiet joggers and morning dog walkers. The city worker collecting yesterdays trash from the pavilion cans. The flock of Canadian Geese in perfect v formation overhead. The leafless trees along the banks. The never-ending yet slow rhythm of the river. Nothing, no one was rushing in any way. Yet life was moving along in its own pace. The river in particular stood out to me. The Missouri River is one of the most dangerous and powerful rivers in the country, especially deceiving because it always looks so calm and slow. People have sadly died because they took the slow and steady force of the river for granted. That river has been there long before any human built a home near it. And I dare say it will be there long afterwards. We do not command rivers to go around us, we build around them.

My mother often reminded me of the moral of  the Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady wins the race. “Do your best, at your pace. And before you know it, you’ll be the fastest and the best,” she always said. The first time she ever told me that I was complaining about running a mile in my middle school PE class. I was exhausted and wanted to die, I was the last one in and it took me 25 minutes. I listened to what she said though, and by the time I graduated high school I was blasting four laps around the track in 6 and a half minutes without even feeling that tired. It was exhilarating. I could almost fly. Funny things is, I never trained or even tried that much. I wasn’t on the track team and it wasn’t my goal to succeed in PE. I hated the class and everything about it. I always hated the coaches. But I had to run the mandatory mile and there was no point in complaining about it, so I just did it. Somewhere along the line, I got good at it without even noticing.

Life in general is like that. There are many underdogs. People or things or ideas that are ignored or not given much credit. Yet they matter. Most of us are underdogs in one way or another. We just have to keep getting ourselves out there and doing things the best way we can. If we do so, we will all find success.

Maybe your life is surrounded by negative things and awful people. You can still choose to be happy. I am going through a very stressful period, but I chose to be happy the other morning, sitting there enjoying the passage of time and life; taking a moment to appreciate things that are bigger than me. You might live in a big city. Yet, many have found that despite the smell, noise, crime and crowding, they can plant a small garden and have a spot where they can sit and enjoy their morning coffee. They still smell the smell, hear the noise, and may still be affected by the crime or other issues; but they found a peace of their own. Just like them, we may have bad lives for one reason or another, but we can each choose to carve out a good day. A tiny garden of good in a big city of bad.

Let’s each take the time to literally stand still for a moment today and notice just one tiny thing that is beautiful or peaceful. And make it a great day!!

Love you

Abigail