Wednesday morning, December 12, 2012, I posted on Facebook that I felt the need to do something remarkable being as the date was 12/12/12. Getting married wasn’t an option since I took care of that in 1975. And having a baby was, thankfully, impossible. Think, think, think. What could I possible do to make this day remarkable?
Within seconds after posting my comment on Facebook I found a very important piece for my camera tripod that had been missing for months. I was sure I’d looked in every possible location but it suddenly hit me that there may have been one spot I’d forgotten to check. Sure enough, there it was. Now some people may not consider this remarkable but to me it was a bit of a miracle; particularly because I was planning to go to the camera store that afternoon and order a new piece!
Well, right after my “little miracle” of finding the tripod piece I thought to myself, “Maybe instead of trying to DO something remarkable I should just take note of all the remarkable things that happen. And thus, I present to you here, a few of the remarkable things I noticed.
Remarkable Kids and Teachers: Our little granddaughter, Lady A, goes to a Mom’s Day Out once a week. They had a little Christmas program on Wednesday and it was AWESOME! There is really nothing much more entertaining than a bunch of pre-pre-school kids singing, dancing, standing there with their hands in their mouths, smiling, and crying all at once! The kids (especially Lady A) AND the teachers were definitely remarkable!
The Roads: We had a huge snowstorm on Sunday that has left our Minnesota roads in a bit of a mess. When you start with sloppy wet snow and then the temperature drop precipitously it creates what we call “scattered slippery spots” although to be honest, in some areas they weren’t so terribly scattered. On Wednesday, with temperatures in the low 40’s there was plenty of melting going on and the Minnesota Department of Transportation was diligently working for the fourth day in a row trying to get the roads clear. Too often, we here in Minnesota, take those plow drivers for granted when in fact, they are really quite remarkable.
Parking Spots: After Lady A’s little program I had some errands to run, one of which was to the Mall of America. I had a lot to accomplish in a short period of time so I was very excited to find a parking spot right across from the entrance. This also meant I could leave my coat in the car which is always, well, remarkable.
Shopping with my iPhone: One of the things I wanted to accomplish was getting some Christmas gifts. Now, I can’t tell you where I was, or who I was shopping for, but let’s just say I got some input from someone by sending pictures of certain items to my helper via my iPhone. If you’re under the age of 40 this may not seem so unusual to you, but if you, like me, grew up before the internet was even invented then you know, this was indeed remarkable.
Unexpected Discounts: Some women are geniuses at knowing when stores are going to have a sale and getting there on that day. I am not one of those women. So, when I arrived at a certain, yet unnamed store, and found out that everything in the store was 30% off I was ecstatic. A chance to buy more! Um, I mean a chance to save money. And, on top of that, I even managed to bring along my 20% off coupon which they took off of the total after the 30% discount. Basically the fact that I happened upon a great sale was, again, remarkable!
As you can see, it was a very ordinary day made different by the choice I made to look for the remarkable. And I would be willing to bet that each of us, if we took the time, would be able to find plenty of remarkable things in every one of our days.
Try it! I think you’ll be amazed at what really is remarkable when you are looking for it. Let me know what you find.