Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.
— Garrison Keillor
This morning, I took one of my sister’s jackets to a shoe repair shop to replace a couple of snap buttons. The old man informed me that the new buttons might look differently from the old. I, then, suggested replacing all. He said, “I don’t think you have to, since the missing ones are the top and the bottom ones. No one will notice it.”
I looked down at my shoes. Each had a discolored spot in the front. I asked him if there was anything I could do with those spots. He told me to take the shoes off and a couple minutes later, he brought them back. The shoes looked like new. “Now you can go dancing,” he said.
I asked him how much I owed him. He waved his hand.
Suddenly, I became aware of how happy I was. Meeting a kind person always has that effect on me. I then asked him if I could go in and take a look of his shop. He nodded.
The room is very small. It has a lot of interesting things that I have no idea what they are. “Do you mind I take some pictures?” I said.
“Nope.”
I was trying to get my phone, but at the last minute I stopped. “If it’s ok with you, I will take pictures when I pick up the jacket. I need my big camera,” I said.
“Okay. Now go dancing.”
Slowly, I danced out of the store. Before I closed the door, I heard the old man laughing.
_ _ _
We continue changing in our life, physically and spiritually. Last year, I was introduced to a book “A Guide to Cultivating Mindfulness in Everyday Life”. I’ll be honest, I didn’t finish reading it and I don’t have a strong desire to read more at this moment. But “be mindful in everyday life” has become one of the most important lessons I have learned. My life is definitely richer since I’ve become more mindful in everyday life.
It isn’t easy to be mindful. Most of us have been trained (maybe by ourselves) to multitask. When driving from home to work, our ears listen to the music; our eyes pay attention to the traffic; our mind tries to solve a problem… Each of our senses is assigned to a different task, and, quite often, one sense has no idea what other senses are experiencing.
Since I read the book (even though I didn’t finish reading it), I often pause and let each sense report to us (all senses) what it is experiencing, so we all know what is going on 😉 For example, at this moment, my eyes are enjoying looking at a bird-feeder being polished by the morning sunshine, while I smell and taste a cup of Blue Bottle coffee. And I am thinking… I wish you were here.
I may not love my life enough, but I do love it more and more. Come to think of it… it all started the day after I retired 😉
Thanks for visiting my blog.
HHC Blog 
You are so right, and I can’t hardly wait until I can retire again later this year.
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Good morning, Hien. Yes, I highly recommend it… less money, but much happier 😉
Have a wonderful day!
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Love the shoe repair story. We have a chain of shoe repair shops which always seem to have helpful staff. Lately I discovered that the man who owns the chain makes a point of employing ex-offenders and other folk down on their luck. I like the shop even more now! I also agree 100% about life being better after retirement.
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Thanks, Anabel. I think we only have one shoe repair shop in town. I saw 3 people working that day and they seem all close to the retiring age. That makes me worry. Even though I seldom use their service, knowing they are there makes me feel good 😉
I think the shop owner who employ folks down on their luck is super. I would go to that shop too! What a great person! Even reading the story cheers me up!
Have a wonderful day.
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The shoe story is a heart warmer, Helen. This is why I support local merchants–you do not get this kind of service anywhere else.
I was really hoping to retire last year, but when I had my health issues, I knew I needed to go back to work and save more money. Why is it always money? Anyway, this year I will finish chemo and, hopefully, my cancer will be in remission and I will retire. God willing. I really want to enjoy life now–enjoy it like you do–complete with dancing shoes! Beautiful post.
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Thanks, Lois. I keep thinking of your comment after I read it. I pray that you will retire this year. You have been through a lot, my dear friend.
Life is unpredictable, isn’t it? That’s why I started writing these letters to my daughter (after I posted these, I rewrote them to personal letters.) I treasure every day with the knowledge that I don’t know what will happen next. I am happy when I am treasuring every moment.
I should post a picture of my “dancing shoes”! They are old and look dumb. I bought them because they were comfortable. I had a laugh when the old man made that dancing comment. Then again, maybe he is wiser than me… maybe we should be able to dance no matter what shoes we are wearing 😉 Hmm… I have to thank him for that…
Have a wonderful day.
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You are sounding like you are being very mindful of things in your life. Nice to see you this joyful and happy. 😀 😀 I look forward to seeing your photos.
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Thanks, Cee.. my dear friend. I have never thought of being mindful until last year. Ha. And I thought it would be easy! I am getting better now, I would say that proudly.
I have one of your photos in mind… a hand on a horse.. I hope to get a hand photo 😉 They looked nice. I hope they are very patient too, because I may have to go back for another round 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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Mindfulness is reading each word of what is written, tasting it, savour it, devour it. Yes, life is always good, Helen, no matter what. Love Perpetua.
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Thanks, Perpetua. I always like “Life is Good” brand. The message cheers me up, and gives me a warm feeling. I had 2 or 3 T-shirts – bought them at a discount store (I don’t like spend money on clothes, can you tell? 😉 The “Life is Good” store at the Mall of America closed several weeks ago, and they had a good sale before closing. I can’t tell you how many things I bought during the sale. Lots! (I wish I could buy ever item in the store and give it to everyone, doesn’t matter I know the person or not !) It’s not the mug, or t-shirt… it’s the message that I want to spread.
I totally agree. Life is always good, no matter what! Love, Helen
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I love your thoughts! It is very mindful~
This is what I am thinking of and experiencing now. Hope to share it with you sometime.
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Thanks you, 欣蓉. I am so looking forward to seeing you one day or two in next couple of weeks! So much to talk about 😉
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Since you mentioned it, yes, I’ve noticed how different my attitude is now that I’m retired. When we were working full-time, so many things were competing for our attention. It is a luxury in life to be able to slowdown and truly bask in what my son calls the *small moments*. I’m still learning how to treasure them 🙂
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Thanks, Joanne. Small moments — I love that description! That’s exactly it! I started noticing those small moments and I enjoy and treasure them.
Have a wonderful day.
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really love your thoughts for this post.
I have so many books that i never go back to finish – but I do glean so much and feel changed.
and meeting kind people does have this effect on me too – loved when you wrote: Slowly, I danced out of the store.
ahhhh
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Thanks, Yvette. Yesterday I stopped at the shop and took some photos, and today I gave some photos to the man (I realized that he is not that old!. Ha. I mean I think I am older.) He was very happy. He told me he was interviewed by a local paper and they took some photos of him too, but he liked mine better. Yeah! 😉
Hope everything goes well for you. Good night.
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well it sounds like that worked out very well (and glad he liked your photos better) sweet dreams, H. 🙂
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Thanks. You, too.
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So glad you have dancing shoes again 🙂 🙂 Even if they weren’t before! So much pleasure in a kind word and a smile. We need them to shore us up against the not so great times.
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Thanks, Jo. What you said exactly. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for all of us to get along. Sometime, I worry for our future generations. I am hoping that if each of us shows a little kindness, together we can change things around. Everyone should take a relaxing walk on Monday, I think. 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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Meeting happy, friendly and kind people has that effect on us. It’s like a reward. I hope you have a longer chat with him next time.
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Thanks, LD. His dad started the shop 100 years ago. Imaging that! Our local newspaper had ran a story of his shoe repair shop a month ago. (I should find a copy and read it.) He told me he liked my photo more than the newspaper’s. Yeah! Even though I Knew he might just say that to make me feel better. Ha.
Have a wonderful day.
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You are right, even the simplest, the most insignificant things in daily lives can let us smile and be cheerful, but we always tend to focus on the incorrect ones.
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Thanks, Edward. More and more I find myself feeling happy for small things. Part of aging, I guess 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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