I took Mr. Frumble, our humble Cairn Terrier, for a good walk last night.  This wasn't out of the ordinary as I take him for a walk every night, however, last night was a bit different.  I'm not quite sure why last night was different for we walked around the same neighborhood and we stopped in the same areas to 'do his job' that we always do.

While walking, I realized that recently, I seem to have forgotten alot of those things I believe in.  I have been very stressed with my job to the point of losing sleep.  I have felt overwhelmed with the amount of things that I had on my list to get done both in my personal life and with work.  The affect of this was that I was a bit snappy with the kids and I felt tired.  I didn't seem to be myself and I didn't like it.

So last night, while thinking and coming to that realization... I continued to think and I watched my dog.

Mr. Frumble stopped so many times along the way, to smell and explore and look around.... rather than being annoyed by his constant stopping, I tried to adopt his attitude (although, I didn't stop to smell the poop).  I tried to notice things as well.... a row of bricks, a pile of terracotta pots, a boulder being consumed by vines growing up and around it. 

Rather than just walking past all of the houses with the goal of finishing the walk, I relaxed.  I actually looked at the houses and the gardens as I walked.  I noticed the multitudes of beautiful flowers in bloom.... yellows, pinks, reds and whites.  I also took some deep breathes and felt spring in the air.  Spring, the season of rebirth and renewal.  Everything I saw had it's own beauty.

And I remembered.

I remembered that there is so much beauty in the world from the flowers to the shards of terracotta. I remembered that the one and only thing that I have complete control over are my own thoughts and my own feelings.  I remembered that happiness is a decision and that no matter what others do or say, I can decide to be happy regardless.  I remembered that stressing and losing sleep doesn't help anything.  Getting angry, sad or upset doesn't complete my work any faster.  My to-do list will not get shorter by worrying about it.  And I decided to be happy again, content with the world again, to notice the little things and to see the beauty in everything. My list will get done regardless of how long it gets.

I hope I don't forget again.