Bitter and Sweet

There is a young girl, 9 years old, who often asks me ” So, what was your bitter and your sweet yesterday? Last week? Last month?” She offers me a great reminder and one that I need to hear – take some time to reflect. Pause, breathe, appreciate and measure. I wear a talisman that says Breathe and even with it touching my wrist and always being present, I can find myself running to or away all day. So when I am not asked the bitter and sweet question, I need to remind myself.

Bitter -Monday, it was raining here in Oceanside, California all morning. I come to southern California for sunshine so it was disappointing to have clouds hang around until early afternoon. This are is still suffering from a drought so of course my bitter is someone else’s sweet and I did get to see a spectacular lightening show over the ocean and have a remarkable March day full of afternoon sunshine and happy hour on the patio.

Sweet – We picked up my 87 year old mother at the airport. She is still able to travel (with some assistance) and still loves to fly, tour and see and learn new things. Watching her eyes sparkle as she laughs at something silly or talks about our trip to Culver City this week to see a taping of Jeopardy is sweet. Before we left for the airport we saw a lost seal lion pup get rescued (50 this spring just in this area) and headed for the safety and rehabilitation of Sea World. He was terrified and relieved ( my anthropomorphic interpretation) and will survive but alone without his mother. Side note the suspicion is that this coastal region has exceeded carrying capacity for the population and mothers are searching for food deeper and farther from their babies.

What is your bitter and your sweet? Keep a journal for a week and I suspect you will see some of them flow together.

Make Today Remarkable, by pausing, breathing, appreciating and measuring,

B