Joy Is in the Little Things

So Little Brother is in Utah now.

:)

Wow, that emoticon is the biggest understatement of the century.

Better. Much better.

Roommate and I played Go Fish with tiny Disney Princess cards and got very... vehement about it.

I also read the children's book I wrote in high school to her in what she has now dubbed my "Bartok" voice and our very good (and male) friend walked in while I was in the middle of it. If I hadn't been laughing so hard, I might have been embarrassed.

I had a remarkably delicious hot dog for lunch today. While that's not making any progress whatsoever on my goal to eat healthier, it is still making me quite happy. Enjoy it, Food Baby, before I get rid of you.

My best friend needed my address so that she could send me a letter. Which means I get snail mail (which is a thousand times better than any notification or email). It also means that I will (hopefully) get to enjoy her wacky doodles again, since I'm pretty sure I've never gotten a letter from her that didn't have at least a few of them.

A friend of mine came over last night and vented about his frustrations. That doesn't seem like a good thing, but it was really nice to have a real conversation with him, since my roommate and I don't see him more than a couple times a year.

I watched a very attractive guy walk over to our bookshelves, pull a book down, and proceed to get very involved in the book while the rest of us talked around him. It was, well, really attractive to see a man get so absorbed in a book that he forgot anyone else was around. Guys, reading is hot. Plus, our books are there to be read. And nobody ever reads them except us.

It was really cool and beautiful on my stroll to the bus stop this morning, and my roommate had opened up the sliding glass door to our patio before she left for work, so I woke up to a lovely breeze and an apartment filled with fresh air this morning. (Don't worry, Roommate, I locked the door before I left.) That put me in a great mood.

I love that there is silver lining to every day, no matter how good or bad it is. Of the guys mentioned in my "Try and Try Again" post, all of them have closed the doors pretty much for good, so dating wise, it's back to square one. I'm surprised at how little I'm actually upset by it.

Perhaps it's because my roommate has been having a rough time at her job, and so, a few weeks ago, I got into the habit of asking her to tell me one good thing that had happened to her each day. She could always come up with something, even if it seemed insignificant. After a while, she started volunteering the information before I even thought about asking her, and it seems that I have adopted a similar pattern into my own life.

And you know what? For the moment at least (since emotions change all the time) I don't really feel glad to be crush-free. That's not to say that I'm upset by it. I just don't really think it's something that should be desired.

Be bold. Dare to wish for that crazy, happy, head-over-heels kind of love. If you don't have it, don't sweat it. There are a lot of other great things to be doing in the meantime. Savor them. Enjoy them.

Do you want to know the thing I'm most grateful for, and the thing that brings me some of the greatest happiness? I feel needed. I took the time and effort to open my heart and my home to people who just wanted a friend. In return, they have done the same to me. Friendship doesn't necessarily lead to romantic love (in many cases, that's a good thing), but romantic love isn't the only kind of love out there. You don't have to be in love to be happy. Sometimes it's enough to love and be loved.

That's what I've figured out this week.

And guess what?

I'm pretty happy.