On Friday I drove up to join my husband on our land west of Nashville. He had left early to prepare for the opening of hunting season. We spent the weekend glamping in our camper and came home Sunday. With minimal, intermittent cell service there, it was a treat to be mostly unplugged.

 

For my birthday earlier this month, my husband bought me a seated hammock swing, which he mounted this weekend between two strong oaks. He placed it in what will be our future backyard and I am beyond thrilled with this gift. I see myself spending lots of time nurturing my spirit in my new swing—journaling, praying, meditating, and simply soaking up the serenity of nature’s sights and sounds.

 

On Sunday morning, I was journaling in my new favorite place and feeling overjoyed with the beauty, privacy and tranquility of our land. I was immersed in gratitude for what it is now, in the raw stages, and what it will become as we go forth in the building process, hopefully within the next year.

 

We hear things falling from the trees all the time—acorns, berries, sticks and sometimes bigger branches. While I was writing, something fell from the tree and landed on my jacket. At first it looked like a leech and then I noticed something had landed on my paper too. Turns out it was bird poop in both cases.

 

My husband is getting so good at finding the gift, he said excitedly, well there’s your meditation for the week! He said surely you can write something about when poop shows up, even in the best of moments.

 

He’s exactly right. We can be enjoying many wonderful things and then something poopish happens. We have a choice. Do we want to get all wrapped up in the poo and let it steal our attention away from everything else that is wonderful? Or do we want to handle it in the most appropriate way and then get back to the goodness of the moment?

 

I could have dwelled on the fact that of all the places to go, a bird decided to drop its junk on me during my wonderful time on the swing. Or I could decide to frame it like, Wow, I spent 90 minutes in my swing and I only got pooped on during two seconds of that.

 

So I said, Whoopty-do, what’s a little bird poo?!  I wiped it off and returned to my former state of bliss and wonder.

 

That’s easy to say and do when it’s a minor inconvenience. It's harder to say and do when it's something more, like perhaps harsh words or disappointing news that has landed on us.

 

But truly, the decision is the same. We can handle it the most appropriate way, work through whatever feelings may need attention, and then remember that most everything else is just right and perhaps even pretty terrific in the moment.

 

How’s your day going so far? Have you noticed what’s good about it? Or are you more focused on what’s not so good, according to your estimation?

 

The beautiful thing about our will and our minds is that we can truly change our experiences instantaneously, merely by adjusting our perspective. Next week, I will share one of my favorite methods for doing that.