The “Best” Days
It’s the second week of November, which means the second week of NaBloPoMo. Last week was super fun- I love branching out and reading some different blogs. Let’s keep the momentum going! Yesterday was such a nice day. In my post I talked about all the things that came together to make it extra-special- the time change, weather change, and New York City Marathon on TV. It made me think about other days in the past that stood out as unusually great. It seems like there’s one day every holiday season… here’s the one that I remember from last year. (Warning! I’m going to talk briefly about politics, ACK! But no worries… we can still be friends if we didn’t vote for the same person.) It was the Friday after election day. I think we’ll all remember, for a very long time, that stressful week. We voted on Tuesday and didn’t get the results until Saturday- crazy. Anyway, on that Friday morning I left for work early and was on my way to Starbucks, which is my usual Friday tradition. On the way there, I got a text from my sister: “Biden won Pennsylvania.” Even though it wasn’t really over, I remember thinking, “It’s over.” I pulled up to Starbucks and, to my surprise and delight, was handed my drink in a festive holiday cup- the first one of the season. I remember thinking: “I’ll remember this day.” And I do. I remember sitting outside (indoor seating was closed, of course), looking at my holiday cup, and letting elation wash over me. Another such day occurred a few years ago on Halloween. My daughter was in elementary school, and the kids wore their costumes to school. Parents were able to attend the “costume parade’ in the morning. My daughter was in third grade- such a fun year, where the kids are still young enough to be excited about costumes and trick-or-treating. After the parade, I went to Barnes and Noble, and there were already Christmas decorations up in the parking lot. Yes, Halloween is a little early for that, but it didn’t bother me. I went into the bookstore and while I sat at a table sipping my tea, the pleasure of seeing my daughter in the costume parade combined with the anticipation of Christmas coming up- and I thought “this is the best day of the whole season.” You know what? When I look back on it, that really was the best day. I hope yesterday wasn’t the best day of the whole season for me- there are still so many fun things coming up. But you never know- I’ve discovered that the “best” days usually aren’t the ones you plan on. For me it’s more likely to be a day where things unexpectedly come together. It’s like running. You can’t really plan to have a great run. You can do everything in your power to make it great, but usually it’s those days where it just happens. High expectations can lead to disappointment, so once again, the best days are unexpected. My goal for this season is to- as much as possible- drop any notions about how I want things to be, or how they should be, and just let them be. Maybe if I just let them unfold, I’ll have not one, but many, many “best” days of the season to look back on. And runs. Lots and lots of “best” runs. How about you- do you have days that stand out in your memory like that?