The Good Towels

[Colleen Cook 207]

My husband Roger and I are celebrating 37 years of marriage! My, how time flies. This year we have attended many receptions for newly marrieds and have admired all of the great gifts they receive. We often joke about

My husband Roger and I are celebrating 37 years of marriage! My, how time flies. This year we have attended many receptions for newly marrieds and have admired all of the great gifts they receive. We often joke about how great it would be to have a reception and invite all of our friends so we could get new stuff to replace our old worn out stuff. You know, like the toaster that only does one slice, the dull knives, and the old, “lost their fluff” towels.

Somehow after 37 years, we feel that we have earned it! Then I realized that we do have “good” knives and “good” towels and “good” china, but I have been saving them for years in the dining room and in my mother’s cedar chest.

You know, the ones I have been saving for…??? Well, that’s the thing I realized; that I didn’t really know exactly what or who I have been saving them for?? So I did it! Just the other day, I used the good towels! The good towels are bigger, softer, and even smell better than the everyday towels I have been using.

Such a silly thing, but using the good towels made me feel better about myself, and proud that I felt worthy of such a luxury. Since then, I have identified a few other little things that simply help me feel better; like keeping my car windows spot free, replacing my gunked up make up bag, getting my hair cut more often.

I don’t know about you, but I am quite convinced that my self-esteem is deeply connected to my eating and health habits. Hmm, seems that when I use the good towels, I feel better about myself and when I feel better about myself I eat less. Makes me wonder what other simple changes I might make. How about you? May I leave you with a challenge to do something special for yourself today? Something small and simple, yet something that will make you feel well and cared for. Then, see if it makes a difference in your eating habits. Come on; get out the good towels!

[Alex Brecher 10,512]

Colleen,

First, congratulations on your 37 years of marriage. That takes a ton of work and dedication, and you deserve the happiness you two have found.

Thank you so much for these insights! How right you are that it would be so easy to give ourselves the little joys that we deserve. I also like your observation that we need learn to identify those little things. After a little practice, it’s easier to see what makes us happy, and to appreciate everything in life a little more.

Thanks for the reminder to do something nice for ourselves today. Maybe I will start wearing my “nice” hoody that I got last year…and then stuck in the closet because I didn’t want to wear it out.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I agree completely!

What if we lived each day in a way to experience as much joy and pleasure and satisfaction as we could extract. How much happier and peaceful we would become.

And I don't mean wasting things or burning through retirement funds or being a glutton -- but savoring the joy from a bite of food, a sip of coffee, a well made bed, freshly brushed teeth, a weeded flower bed, a bill paid, a goodnight kiss, a giggle with a child, the fur of a cat.

Such simple joys in our lives are here for the taking every single hour of the day. All we have to do is partake.