One Thing That Made You Smile Today?

[Deadman]

My dog trying to get a Guineafowl that had died to stand up. Sad but still somehow...

 

[Deleted member 33052]

There are two adorable little Chinese girls staying with me right now. They live in Guangzhou, which has a population of around 14 million. They've never seen wildlife of any sort. Today, they discovered a beautiful stag in our front yard, head lowered, almost nose to nose with one of our cats. It was an incredible sight.

I told them to run and get their phones so that they could take photos. They stepped out onto the porch and the stag graciously posed for a couple of shots before wandering off. That totally made my day.

Last summer, we had another two girls from Guangzhou, and they were lamenting their bad luck at having seen no deer. On their last day with us, we arrived home from somewhere and saw a stag and two young bucks standing on our lawn. I don't tend to anthropomorphize, but it almost felt like they were giving the girls a show.

I love this place.

 

[Deleted member 33052]

Today, I waited at the bus stop for the girls to get back from school. The look of delight on the face of the girl sitting next to the window when she saw me moved me. I was expecting relief, or a friendly smile, not the jumping-up-and-down-in-the-seat joy that greeted me. I wish I could keep this kid forever...

 

[The Albatross]

A swallowtail butterfly.

 

[Deleted member 33052]

My little Guangzhou girls again. Today, they are fully recovered from the jetlag and culture shock, and they're energetic and inquisitive. Until now, they referred to me by my first name but today, it's, "Home mom, I have a question! Home mom, I have another question! Home mom, what is this? Home mom, show me this!"

After school, I took them out to the garden to snack on raspberries and blueberries and between mouthfuls, they bombarded me with questions. 90 minutes of questions. I finally made an excuse to come in, because my brain is worn out!

These two are delightful. This moment is bittersweet because we've finally bonded and they're going back to China in three days...

 

[Deleted member 42783]

After a long night if pain and thoughts of suicide, my nine year old daughter knocked on my door and said, "mom, I made you coffee and cut you up an apple". She's never made it before and we don't have a coffee maker. She had to boil the water and grind the beans and such. It touched me so deeply that she did that for me with out even knowing how close to ending it I came last night.

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

The red-tailed hawk that landed right outside my window and slowly and very thoroughly preened itself this evening. What a beautiful reminder of the importance of self-care, even for the wildest of things. Then he shook a few times, serving as a great reminder to always make time to shake ones tail feathers. And finally...right before he flew away, he took a big dump, reminding one to let shit go. lol So many messages within a day in some of the darnedest places.

 

[Deleted member 33052]

Those silly little girls, again. We picked them up from school and took them to Menchies for a treat. Once they'd had enough, they started goofing around and one laughed so hard she did a spit take through her nose. :D Perfectly undignified.

This evening, they told me they wanted to play sports with me tomorrow. I couldn't figure out which sports they wanted to play, so I started rummaging around to see what I still have. I found some badminton racquets and light-up LED birdies, so we immediately went outside, and played some badminton in the dark. That was more fun than I was expecting it to be. :)

Man, I'm gonna miss those two little monkeys.

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

The ruby-throated hummingbird hanging out super close to me on the tomato cages while I was watering, then later came and hovered for a while right outside the screen where I was sitting. I checked to make sure the feeder was full...lol...and it was. They have me trained so well. Hahahaha! Such a little beauty.

 

[Beans]

my smiling kitty purring super loudly. swear she's the only cat I've ever seen who smiles lol. she's always rolling around on her back and showing her cute tummy. love how she runs and flops down on me lol. i'm now a certified cat lady!

 

[Deleted member 37085]

Finally realizing that thinking, feeling, and grieving feelings is keeping me stuck and sick; I have the knowledge/information now I need to stop thinking, and feeling, etc. so much, and start to utilize REBT, DBT, etc. to catapult me into present (here and now) and STOP thinking about what they did to me and...I am smiling!

 

[Beans]

Finally realizing that thinking, feeling, and grieving feelings is keeping me stuck and sick;...

That is an awesome realization! So happy for you!