Unexpected Beauty

This past Saturday, I was having a crabby morning, coming off of a crappy week.  Not only is work crazy for me this month, but I had to go to an earlier shift (since hubby got a new job) and trust me when I tell you that I am NOT a morning person.  And on top of all of that (or perhaps because of all of that) my joint pain has been very bad.  I know, blah, blah, blah...we all have our trials in life.  But humor me and allow me to call the month of April my Perfect Storm for stress.  With that said, I am still able to enjoy simple beauty that is around me.  I had to share my unexpected beauty of Saturday afternoon, which also brought to mind two other simple beauties I felt were blog-worthy.

Saturday, I had a massage scheduled for 12:30pm.  (I know - rough life!  But I always encourage all people to indulge in what brings them bliss, as much as they can, for their time here on earth!).  As I was saying, I was heading to the massage in a crabby mood (hubby and I were in a disagreement over a movie that he thought was acceptable for our children to watch and to which I couldn't have disagreed with more.).  But as I arrived at the spa, I remembered that I had referred a co-worker (I shall call him Kurt for this blog) to my masseuse (Alison) and he happened to have the appointment before me.  When I walked in, I saw Kurt right away and asked him how he liked his massage.  He said he loved it and would definitely be coming back again.  This made me so happy since he had previously checked out a place I had recommended about 6 months earlier and did not have good luck. He, unfortunately, had a 19-year-old girl who was very new to her position and was not at all versed in the fine arts of massage.  I was worried that his first experience would scare him off massages (which I, of course, adore), but I am happy to say that he was willing to try another place.  So when he said he loved his massage and that Alison had done a great job, I was very happy.  This is not, however, the unexpected moment of beauty that I experienced that day.

Apparently, when Kurt was checking out, he had asked Alison which of the products I liked that they sell.  So she pointed him to one of my favorite Aveda lotions and he bought me one.  He then had them give me my unexpected gift at the end of my massage.  When Alison handed me the gift bag and told me it was from Kurt, it melted my heart.  I do not know Kurt very well.  We are more like work acquaintances then close friends. So the fact that he would buy me such an extravagant gift just for simply referring him to my masseuse, left me speechless and humbled.  He not only made my day, but he turned around my crappy day with his completely unexpected, but thoughtfully beautiful gift.  It put me into such a grateful and happy mood, that it immediately made me think of two other people who I thought were beautiful.

The first one is another co-worker, who had just turned in her resignation at work.  I talked with her to see what was going on and I ended up being humbled by her leap of faith as well as her love and dedication as a mom.  She has three children who all have different levels of ADD and one who also has OCD.  This child seemed to be struggling a lot lately and his doctor mentioned that home life has to be calm, consistent, and schedule-driven.  The doctor also said that children struggle more with maternal stress than paternal stress; she knew right then and there that she needed to quit her job and stay home with her kids.  I find her actions beautiful, full of love, and a complete leap of faith.  And I wish her and her family the absolute best in life.

The second observation was about my 52 year-old male friend.  He is married with a 17 year-old son.  This is not the demographic of a person whom you would think would want to watch the animated movie "Frozen".  Not only did he watch the movie on his own accord, he actually enjoyed the movie.  His exact words were: "Fantasy, magic, adventure, love...all the things in the books I read.  Such a great movie!"  I found this entire thing to be very cool.  Not only is he comfortable enough in his manhood to rent such a movie for himself, but he has such a depth of character to actually, truly, enjoy such a movie (and readily admit it!).  It's a beautiful thing.  (By the way, if you haven't yet seen Frozen, my three daughters and I absolutely love it!)

Enjoying the Beauty Along the Way,
Me

Motivational Moment:

Today's Mo Moment is another of Life’s Little LaughablesTM :

We were watching a comedy the other night and the term "lingerie" was mentioned a couple of times.  My twelve-year-old asked me why they were pronouncing that word wrong.  So I asked her what word she was talking about.  And she said: "laundry".  I laughed, but I could understand how she could make that connection.  The word "lingerie" does sound as if you are separating out the word "laundry".  What was not fun was trying to explain what lingerie was.  I think I would have preferred just letting her think they were mispronouncing "laundry".  ;)

May you find beauty in unexpected places each day!  ~SG