Finding Joy in the Ordinary.

I listened to Simon Sinek’s A Bit Of Optimism Podcast. It was called Guaranteed Joy with Richard Curtis. I love the title. Who doesn’t want that? Richard is a writer and sometime director known for optimistic, funny, and uplifting films like Love ActuallyAbout TimeNotting HillBridget Jones’s Diary, and many more. These are the types of movies that I love. I am going to look up About Time. I haven’t seen that one.

I listened to the Podcast twice in the same day. The conversation between Simon and Richard made so much sense. It put words and meaning to my actions. I am a little embarrassed to admit I love watching movies over and over again. How boring does that sound? Am I learning anything new? Not really, but it is bringing me an hour and a half of Guaranteed Joy! We don’t go out to eat much but when I do I usually order the same thing because I know that I will love it. Now, I know it is guaranteed joy!

Simon and Richard also talked about happiness. They said: “Truly happy people appreciate the little things.” Richard’s Dad’s motto was, “You can’t be happier than happy.” If you are happy don’t try to up it. It is about Finding Joy in the Ordinary. I need to be grateful for the times when my sister and I laugh until we cry over something ridiculous. I am going to keep looking for these small moments.

I am going to watch Grace and Frankie while I am making dinner this evening. This is my fifth time through. It always brings me a little joy.

Here is a link to the Podcast. Enjoy, and let me know if you are inspired to make popcorn and watch Notting Hill for the tenth time.

Love,

Mary

Simplicity

This is all so much fun!

I love being a 68 year old plungette! My friend Andrea took a photo of me in my bathing suit, so I could post about it. 50 years ago, I never would have had the confidence to have my photo taken in my suit, let alone post it. Of course, there was no posting back then.

Today was another great plunge. It was 65 degrees and partly cloudy in February. I picked up Andrea and headed to the beach to meet Lauren and Elena. I have the beach car. I don’t care if my car gets full of sand because I belong to the car wash club at the Shrewsbury car wash. As we drive over the Sea Bright bridge we can see the water. I check for white caps, hoping that it will be calm. It always feels surreal to me and is unbelievable that we are about to get into 40 degree water. We do it. We stay in for 5 minutes and 30 seconds. We talk, laugh and sometimes have waves crashing over our heads just to add to the excitement. Being in the water is not the difficult part. The hard part is getting our wet bathing suits off, and dressed as quickly as possible. Your hands stop working well because they are so cold. We all have big coats, so we can get changed under them right on the beach.

My brother Paul gave me snack packs of seaweed. He couldn’t believe that anyone would enjoy eating seaweed. I brought them to the beach to share with my fellow plungettes. Can you think of a more appropriate snack? Everyone loved them.

This is all so much fun! What are you doing for fun this winter?

Love,

Mary