Friday, October 19, 2012

Finding Peace and Perspective in Unusual Places

Happy Friday! We are having an authentic fall day here in the Midwest. Chilly. Mostly overcast. A peek of sunlight here and there. Our trees have rallied in spite of the summer drought and are treating us to a gorgeous light show. Sigh.

I totally blew Real Reality Thursday, didn't I? That's because I was dealing with ... my Real Reality this week. Mark was off work this whole week. It is highly unusual for him to take that much time off, and while I enjoyed having him around, it really threw my routine for a loop. And I LOVE my routine. And one of the peeps popped up with strep throat, so that threw me for a loop-de-loop. She's all better now. But it's good for my schedule to be tossed up in the air and scattered like the falling leaves once in awhile. It gets my brain out of a rut.

One cool thing I did get to do this week was volunteer at our school district's clothing center. What a fantastic place! It's available to any student in the district, and it's supported solely by donations. And you should see the donations. Piles and piles of white trash bags stacked almost to the ceiling of the center's garage. It's a "green" operation, meaning everything is used one way or another. Any clothing donations that can't be used are picked up by the Salvation Army to turn into rags or something else useful. The gals in charge of running the center really have the operation down to a science.

I worked for two hours in the room set aside for older boys' clothing. I sorted, organized, and hung clothes. In peace. And quiet. Very few interruptions. My two hours there completely satiated my need for order, coordination, cleanliness, peace, and quiet. Did I mention the peace and quiet?

My two hours there also gave me a chance to reflect on how truly blessed I am to have a choice of where I shop. So many people and families don't have that choice, and they depend on services such as this clothing center to meet the needs of their kiddos. That's the Real Reality of today's world. Sometimes when I'm knee-deep in my own Real Reality, I forget that. I was thankful for the reminder this week.

Have you found peace and perspective in an unusual place? I'd love to hear about it.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing ... Keep It Real.

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