A Year of Gratitude – August 6, 2024

I found my gratitude in the weather today. I was downtown when the skies turned light, then medium, and finally a dark foreboding shade of grey. Rain started to fall and then it started to pour.

I was caught in the rain with errands that needed doing. I pulled my cap down a bit further on my head and pulled on the raincoat I had been carrying over my arm.

As I finished my errands, the rain really started to come down. The wind picked up. The wind was strong enough that it seemed like the rain was falling sideways.

I found an awning from a local business to stop under, hoping that it might slow down a bit. Instead, it started to rain a bit harder. I checked my watch, realized that I had the time to stop into a local coffee shop for a coffee, and walked quickly from awning to awning until I ducked into the shop.

When I treat myself to a coffee, I always get it to go. There are things to do, chores to get done. I drink my treat on the go to save time.

The rain gave me an excuse to get my coffee to enjoy there, in the shop. It felt a bit odd to order my coffee to enjoy there instead of taking with me. It also felt liberating to announce to myself that I could take a few minutes to just sit, to just enjoy my coffee right there.

And so, I sat by myself and drank my delicious coffee. I savored the moment as much as the drink. I didn’t pick up my phone to post recipes or check my calendar. Instead, I just sat.

I watched the activity in the shop. I listened to the sound of people chatting with friends at tables nearby. I watched a little girl enjoying a big cookie while her adult sipped a cup of tea.

I watched the rain falling outside and felt grateful. That rain that I could have complained about being caught in had given me a reason to do something I should have done long ago. It gave me a reason to sit and just catch my breath. It’s something I don’t do enough of, something I am not practiced at.

With my coffee gone, I made my way to the door. The rain had slowed a bit, enough to enjoy walking in it. As I followed the sidewalk and crossed over the Cocheco River to my car, I stopped to watch the rain as it cascaded off the roof of a downtown building.

It was busy going from one place to another, rushing to get to its destination. I watched it for a moment and realized that I do that far too often. I’m going to do my best to slow down when I can, even for a moment. It’s a small measure of selfcare that I can give myself but it’s going to take a lot of effort to replace habits I have been practicing for decades. It’s time to make new habits.

There’s so much life in the in-between moments that I miss when I am rushing from point A to point B.  There are a million points in between and I want to make sure that I don’t miss them.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.