“Misery is easy to come by, it is happiness that takes a lot of work,” the Irish Priest said.
As the movie ended his words of wisdom stayed with me. So why is that true? It is a gloomy fall day and I feel sluggish. It is my day off and I feel spent. My thoughts seem to have weights tied to them, causing them to sink into negativity. All the reason to watch a low-budget Irish film, before the kids, get home from school.
The credits have rolled and now I have to think about dinner. Every Monday I find myself in a similar situation. Feeling sluggish, worn out, and…hungry. What is in the fridge? Leftovers? Yuck! It’s in moments like these that I have to put on the timer for ten minutes and pray for a food blessing from Heaven.
Whispering to myself, “Dianne, get some gumption to function.” I arise from the couch. A little music begins to stir my creativity. Now, you need to understand that I only cook a few meals well, and repeatedly. I am not very adventurous especially when it comes to fish or seafood. I also am gluten free so that always adds a few more gray clouds to the food depression.
Taking a few deep breaths I whisper, “Come on Dianne you can do it.”
Looking in the fridge I pull out a pound of raw grass fed Hamburger. “Thank you God there is going to be something healthy on the table, maybe chili?”I look in the cupboard, no cans of red kidney beans, but there is a can of green beans.
“Ah Ha! Possibly hamburger bake?”
The song is energizing me so I turn it up a little bit on my phone, I placed in a glass bowl to magnify the sound while I cook. Next, I open up the freezer, lifting frozen pizzas and waffles I see it, the bag of hash browns! (Hallelujah) On the shelf I find onion soup mix, I add a handful of nibbler carrots and a can of diced tomatoes. Hope is now flooding back into my mind. Humming to the music, I start to think after dinner I might even want to go on a walk.
In the bottom drawer of the fridge, I find 4 granny smith apples.
.
“Brad, will you peel these for me?” I ask as I brown the hamburger, “we are having fried apples.”
The kids wander into the kitchen from their bedrooms. “What’s for dinner?” they ask as a trio.
“Hamburger Bake, and fried apples, and if you want to help corn bread!” I say with more energy than I have had all day.
Hurriedly Elaina and Lydia read the box and start gathering ingredients, feeling grown up and urged on by their hungry bellies.In 30 minutes my evening has been transformed from a gloomy lethargic day to a successful family night.
So who was that middle aged woman I lugged around all day? I hardly remember her. I feel ashamed that she even got up this morning. She did nothing until her children came home. To be honest, I despise rest and feel guilty allowing myself to bask in it. To me it is the biggest waste of time, and yet it is only after such moments I get, really only once a week, that all the creativity of living springs forth.
I have learned that I would rather be busy doing things. Working until I literally break down, instead of taking the rest my body needs. But it is through rest that I can begin to really enjoy my life. (Sigh) It takes work to truly find happiness, but I guess it also takes down time too. In conclusion, I have to say, against my normal judgement, all in all, this has been a perfect day.
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