Challenge Accepted

I’ve always enjoyed a good challenge. When I was in 5^th grade, I competed in the Spelling Bee, even though I was up against 6^th graders, and I won! In high school, I broke the season rebounding record my junior year and had an article written about it in the newspaper. The journalist congratulated me and said I’d certainly end up in the top 5 for career rebounds but that I’d wind up well short of the all-time leader.  I worked hard all season and wound up not only beating the previous season record I had set the year before, but also seizing the career record. It was pretty amazing. So when I read my friend’s semi-recent post listing 100 things she’s thankful for and saw her challenge at the end of it, I knew I needed to sit down and do it, too. Oh, Thanksgiving was last week you say? Well, I guess I didn’t want to jump off the same bridge everyone else was ;)

Here we go! *in no particular order other than the order they came to mind*

1. God/Jesus/Holy Spirit (I thought it would be cheating to list them as 3 separate numbers…)

2. Friends.

3. Family.

4. My house.

5. Having enough food to eat.

6. My upcoming internship.

7. Access to medicine.

8. Snail mail.

9. Laughter.

10. Babies.

11. Catching up with good friends.

12. Travelling.

13. Having enough money to live comfortably.

14. Finding new friends via blogging.

15. Prayer.

16. Changing seasons.

17. My car.

18. Peace of mind.

19. Joy.

20. Hope.

21. Coffee.

22. Ice cream!

23. My health.

24. Daily mass.

25. The Bible.

26. Warm clothes.

27. The sound of the furnace turning on.

28. Bible study.

29. Good books.

30. Television.

31. Musicals.

32. Having friends who can sing!

33. Catholicism.

34. Email/Skype/Facebook/etc.

35. Library cards.

36. My glasses.

37. Courage

38. Others’ perspectives.

39. Free time.

40. Memories.

41. The mission trip to the Philippines.

42. Vacations I’ve taken to Europe.

43. The smell of homemade bread.

44. Beauty.

45. Truth.

46. My five senses.

47. Spending time with friends’ families.

48. Sunsets.

49. Trees during autumn.

50. Love.

51. Momma Mary.

52. Church traditions.

53. Recycling.

54. Blood donations.

55. Flowers.

56. The Sacraments.

57. TV show season premieres.

58. Music, live and on the radio.

59. My iPod.

60. Hot cocoa.

61. Silence.

62. Hair products.

63. Finding a good quote.

64. The saints!

65. Hugs.

66. Wine tasting.

67. Bringing joy to others.

68. Teeth.

69. Pita chips.

70. Pictures.

71. Popsicles.

72. Nature.

73. Jokes.

74. Disney movies.

75. Getting invited to things.

76. Easter Vigil.

77. GPS.

78. Fresh fruit.

79. Miracles.

80. Finding the good in the bad.

81. Learning new things.

82. Forgiveness.

83. Having the perfect example to follow.

84. Smiles.

85. Doctors and nurses.

86. Second chances.

87. Having wisdom imparted on me.

88. Christmas concerts.

89. Veterans.

90. People who chew with their mouths closed.

91. Low interest rates on loans.

92. Snow plows.

93. My phone.

94. Online banking.

95. Baby laughter.

96. Candles that smell like real Christmas trees.

97. Stars in the sky.

98. My laptop.

99. TV on DVD.

100. All of you wonderful people who read my extremely random blog.

That may quite possibly be the most random list of items I’ve ever compiled. Who knew I had so many things to be thankful for :) 

Beauty Is.

Today I started rereading a book I read over the summer. It's called Captivating, and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. I mean, if you love a book enough to reread it two months later, it's gotta be good, right? Unfortunately I can't give a review of it because I'm awful at that sort of thing. Just ask any of my friends who have ever asked me about anything I've read or watched. My summaries usually end with me saying something like "you'll just have to see or read it for yourself. But it's really good!" after I've tried to make the idea of joining a circus sound serious... Sooo instead, here's what Barnes and Noble has to say.

Anyway, back to Captivating. The chapter I finished up today was about, you guessed it, beauty. (Sorry if you didn't guess it, but come on, the title pretty much gave it away...). So many things stuck out to me, but I'll try to keep it short. And what better way to do that than a list? ;)

1. "Nature is not primarily functional. It is primarily beautiful. Which is to say, beauty is in and of itself a great and glorious good, something we need in large and daily doses" (page 34).
~As soon as I finished reading this part, I looked outside my window and saw a scene similar to this one. If that's not beautiful, I don't know what is. I wonder how much better off the world would be if we all took the time to find 5 beautiful things each day. (anyone up for the challenge??)

Source

2. "Beauty invites." (page 38).

~It invites us to listen, to see, to feel, to experience. I don't know about you, but when I find a new song I like, it gets listened to on repeat for days hours. Everyone has those go-to songs that never get old. According to my iTunes, mine is I and Love and You (which I may or may not be listening to now) but after rereading another book (I really need to find new books...), I've recently discovered this guy. And it's not just music. How many people go to the beach at sunset just to watch the sun go down over the water? What are art museums other than a chance to (hopefully) experience beauty? We crave beautiful things because they invite us to experience joy.

3. "Beauty inspires." (page 39).

~When I hear stories like this or like this, it makes me want to go out and do good. I've got a friend whose goal this year is to find small ways to bring joy to people, even if it's just by genuinely smiling at them or taking the time to talk to the person in line ahead of you, because we could all use a little more joy in our lives. When I heard that, I immediately wanted to adopt it as my own goal. When did we get away from exchanging simple pleasantries with each other? Why do we stare at the ground as we walk by another person? Is it really that hard to smile and say a quick hello? (Do I smell another challenge??) 

Well, it's probably about time for me to get off my soapbox. I'm really excited to continue reading this book, though. I may not be able to change the world, but I can follow the way of St. Thérèse and do little things that could change someone's world. As she said, “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”