✯ Day 227 of Vintage 365 ✯
My husband is not a pessimist by any stretch of the imagination, yet I think he'd be the first to say that between the two of us, I tend to look at things with the more rose coloured glasses. As such, it touched me a lot when, just the other day while we were in the living room, out the blue he looked up from his laptop and said rather matter-of-factly, "Life is good".
Yes, sweetheart, it is.
This year has been a rough one on various front, and we've both been contending with some pretty heavy medical issues on top of many other things. It seemed at first as though 2011 couldn't deliver a good day to save its skin, and it's still not winning any "best year ever" awards (not by a long shot).
Yet, as with many of the harder times in life, you can't help but grow during the challenges. They push you as person, make you strive harder toward your dreams, remind you of the things that matter most in this crazy world of ours.
Tribulations are by no means a 20th or 21st century invention. Whether it was outrunning a sabre-toothed tiger thousands upon thousands of years ago, praying the black plague spared you, or forging your way across a fledging continent as a pioneer, the human race has dealt with negatives and hardships of every magnitude since the dawn of time.
Some trials are massive, others only seem it. Some break us, some make us, and others turn out to be false alarms. There are good days and bad, but if you see the potential for sunshine on cloudy ones, you'll usually pull through those bleaker moments in one piece.
As we hit the middle of August, I'm reminded of a Jane Austen quote, "To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment." To me these words tie into my husbands positive sentiments about life.
During these last few sizzling hot weeks of summer, no matter where you feel your life is at right now, it's important to take a moment and pause.
{Take your cue from this charmingly sweet 1930s pair, pull up a table and your finest tea set and spend a little time in the garden - be it proverbial or not - to recharge your spirit, remember what truly matters, and see the glass - or the teacup - as half full. Vintage photograph via lovedaylemon on Flickr.
Stop to let yourself breath. To count your blessings. To spend a few calm minutes in the shade, refreshing your soul with the beauty and energy of summer. Like most hardships we face, this season does not last forever, and its immensely important to savour the good in while we still can.
As this new week begins and we usher in the last chapter of summer, I hope you'll echo my husband's lovely statement, and take a minute to remember that, when all is said and done, life really is good.
