Refrigerator magnets.

I don’t know if anyone else is like me, but I love refrigerator magnets!  Ok, it is not the magnet itself that I am so in love with but the things I can hang on my fridge with the use of the magnet.   My refrigerator is like a mosaic of my life, and it is so danged beautiful!

I really love the people in my life, like really LOVE them.  Unfortunately, during this season of my life I am forced to be away from some of those who are nearest to my heart.  This can become very taxing on me.  What I have learned to do, in order to feel close to those important to me, is to surround myself by their love.  I may not be able to see them every day but I hold on to cards, pictures, notes, and other small things that remind me of my loved ones.  My refrigerator has become one of my major catch alls, to the point of being ridiculous. 

Last night I accidently knocked a whole bunch of magnets off of my fridge (after closing it with gusto).  So, I knelt down to pick everything up.   Reluctantly I started to scoop together all of these pieces of paper and cards into a pile.  I should pause here to say: I have been in sort of a bad mood lately…well, more of a selfish mood to be honest.  I have been throwing a little bit of a pity party for myself ( I know, I do that a lot).  I have been immensely tired since I finished my qualifying exams and due to large projects in the lab and all of the other craziness that makes up life I have been really needing a break.  I really need a trip out of Lubbock and west Texas, and fast.  Anyways, I have slipped into some negative thinking and a little bit of a negative attitude as of late.  So, the collapse of my refrigerator magnets couldn’t have come at a better time.  God is just so danged cute!  He’s just a cute man!

SO, there I was piling together these items that belong on my fridge, and I decided that maybe I should take some of them down… seeing how it was obvious the magnets had become overwhelmed.  I began to sift.  Before I knew it I had spent over an hour sitting Indian style on my kitchen floor looking at pictures, reading cards and notes, and just immersing myself in the many lives that have so touched mine.   I just felt so darned blessed!  I have so many amazing people in my life and I love them all SO dearly.  I decided there was NO way I was taking anything down (in fact, I put more stuff up).   Out I headed, at 11:45 p.m., wearing hot pink shorts, a KSU sweater and Sperrys to Wal-mart so I could buy more magnets.  To be honest, I was dressed to impress at that hour at that particular store.

I am one of the biggest culprits of focusing on the things I am missing from my life, and I can really get to feeling neglected or cheated by life.  I guess sometimes you just need a little perspective.  We are all blessed in many different ways and focusing too much on another person’s blessings and not enough on your own is the fast track to self-proclaimed lack.  Trust me, I ride that express far too often. 

Today I woke up with new magnets, a new perspective, and a new attitude; thanks to some smiling faces, words of encouragement, out-of-date wedding reminders and birth announcements, and wishes for a happy New Year!  Thank you, to all of you, (and you know who you are) for being the magnets that decorate my life!  I love you so very much!