Tell Me You Will Stay, Make Me Smile

Here and there my days can be like a Chicago song, easy and way more upbeat than usual.  On this day I pranced into work and did my thing.  I got on good with strangers and felt strengthened by my interactions instead of drained.  My shift ended and I hopped on my bike, had a pleasant ride home.  No one tried to cut me off or walked into my path with their face buried in a cell phone.

In the same degree, dinner was seamless.  I had already baked potatoes from the previous night. I scooped them out and smashed up some roasted garlic, olive oil and a bit of yogurt before packing the mix back into their original shell. I topped that with chicken, steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and Vermont Cheddar and put back in oven until the cheese was melted and they were heated through.

You wouldn't think it by what I share but I make conscious efforts to be a super grateful person.  Grateful for the sun, my mate, friends, siblings, parents, Brooklyn, my job, Spring, Fall, my bike, strangers, food, running water, warm clothes, our apartment, my health and the health of all those I know.  This list is endless but I try to hit as many as I can think of while on my bike rides and say them out loud like the Indian in Dances with Wolves shouting it from the highest peak.

That is one cool thing about being on a bike, you can talk to yourself, pray, gripe, cry, sing and pretty much act out anything.  The helmet, glasses and get up lends itself to a sort of invisible look yet being out in the elements makes you feel so alive and part of the earth.  I stopped to admire how this green tree was shedding it's leaves almost all at once from the strong winds even before they were given the chance to turn colors. I was grateful for the beauty of the sun hitting on that green blanket, how it flooded the street in that one spot as if for my pleasure alone.  

What's different now from maybe two years ago is that I try not to get caught up in how long these good moments last or how fleeting they may be.  I only try to be in them when they come.