I GOT SUNSHINE IN MY POCKET!

Hey my dearest Sunshines!!!

My writing often contains souvenirs from my life — a song I have heard, a quote I have read, a bird I have seen, a person I have loved, an adventure or a human experienced I have encountered — which I then write about.

…and I am constantly seeking these experiences, however random, abstract, or perhaps extremely concrete…

So a couple weekends ago I was staying at my aunt’s in downtown St. Pete. We were there for the Gasparilla Volleyball Tournament in Tampa, Florida — and every year, this is my opportunity to stay with my Aunt DJ.

I love staying with her. It’s our little time to catch some family time between the hustle and bustle of tourney life! Life is short, (Lord knows I’ve been taught this lesson well and many times over) and it’s my opportunity to squeeze in a few moments here and there with her — which is so important.

It just so happened that Saturday morning (Valentine’s Day) I was up at my normal, super early time. So I popped out of bed and thought it would be a great idea to watch the sunrise from the edge of Vinoy Park. It faces east and offers a perfect vantage point.

I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter where I am or what part of the world, I’m always trying to catch a glimpse of the first morning rays, as they break across the horizon! I’m that girl…always looking for the sunrise and the opportunity for an adventure…

I quickly threw on a pair of ratty jean shorts that I had packed but not worn in months and headed out the door. I quickly walked down the alley, that cuts through to the downtown and park; when I unexpectedly felt something hard and flat in my back pocket. I reached around to the pocket, without a clue as to what it might be…

…when, suddenly I was staring down at one of those plastic hand-painted suncatchers our kids make, and it was a bright colorful sunshine!

The irony, of course, is that it had been raining off and on for two days, so when I went out to catch the sunrise, it was rainy, drizzling and super overcast. I wasn’t even sure if the sun would come through the clouds but I had been willing to give it a shot!

And then this moment occurred and in that split second, there was a clearing in my mind and in the morning as I thought to myself, “who couldn’t love these moments!?!”

It was like the entire moment hit me and this exceptionally soft wave of joyfulness washed through my mind as the clouds parted and the sun shined through warm and bright and once again I wanted to share how precious and special all of life is…

Who couldn’t recognize how special a moment like that is?

This very experience?!?

Because in that moment, I had a pocketful of sunshine and I had quite literally stumbled upon it…

…and it seemed so very, very random but are those moments actually random?

Later that day, I was telling a buddy about my little moment and he said, “the universe was like, just in case you can’t find it, we got you!” referring to finding the sunshine…then he went on to say, “It just goes to show that when you put that positive energy out into the universe how it comes back to us.” I thought what he said was pretty insightful.

Then I was telling one of my best girlfriends and she took it a step further when she said, “I think those special moments come when we need them. We may not know we need them even while they are happening. But it will it hit you and the reason behind them will become clear. I think this was your moment. It was only for you. You will figure out why you needed it.”

She brought me to tears…because in her astute observation, she was so incredibly right too…

I had needed that moment…my own random experience and I knew exactly why I needed it.

Life had been coming at me pretty fast and furious lately and admittedly, I was having a really, really tough time utilizing my normal practices to manage my place of balance, joy, harmony and hopefulness.

For whatever reason, I didn’t have my usual bearings. No matter how much I kept turning to my typical practices…they simply weren’t having their usual calming impact and as a result, I had been feeling pretty overwhelmed. Then add to it, people I thought would have my back, let me down and those I never even considered to be part of the equation — completely stepped up.

It was very eye opening and offered me perspective and insight from a fresh set of eyes.

Givers do just that…they give…and they aren’t to be taken for granted.

As a result, even the simplest thing wasn’t taken for granted on my end. A text, phone call, heck – even a hug, picture, hello or follow through on something someone said they were going to do…the littlest thing seemed so huge…and it was so appreciated.

It hit home to me that what my friends had commented, was so on point…the Universe does have us covered, especially when we’ve been putting out that positive energy.

I needed this moment to move past this mental energy block and accept what was, because why focus on the thing we cannot control? We can’t always control how or why things happen the way they do, but we CAN control how we respond, how we maximize, how we build, how we tolerate, how we focus on what we CAN control. It’s not that you ignore what you can’t control — it’s there for a reason…but to make it the focus is just trying to control something you have no power to control.

It was time to get back to feeling centered and balanced within myself…no matter what…and to realize, I have been putting some really great energy into the Universe for a very long time and not requiring much in return. So if someone didn’t come through for me, that’s a reflection on them and their character…not mine…and in a time when I needed some of that back…the Universe proved it would provide…through the true givers in my life and once again with a sunrise.

That was indeed my moment…to be reminded that no matter how hard things might get, even if someone has let you down…you focus on what you can control, you keep giving anyway…because you simply have to trust that all you give will come back — even if it’s in the form of a small sunshine suncatcher!

As always,

Go in love,