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Share Something Positive from Your Day vs. It's All Around You

BrassEye said:
Small thing to be happy about..

The muffled sound of someone mowing their lawn in the distance, when the weather first starts warming in the spring.
You smell fresh cut grass on the warm air, for the first time in months.. and get some kind of chill of nostalgia and tranquility.
Click to expand...

I totally get that. Thanks for posting--gave me a second hand way to experience it. There is such a hit of complete safety in that memory for me.<3
 
Taking a break from packing to sit, procrastinate and watch one of my favorite Britcoms,"Waiting for God"!! ?
 
I woke up today and realized while getting ready for work i was actually in a good mood in i cant remember how long. My next thought was that i couldn't even remember the last day i'd had any suicidal ideation. It made me thankful to be back on meds and clean for over 30 days!

My life is far from perfect, i've got a lot to work on and major challenges ahead but things are looking up and im heading in the right direction for the first time in at least a decade. Life can ​be good, I just need to keep the momentum and since i discovered NA isnt just some jesus-y BS AND i actually do need to remain on my meds I might actually have a shot this time :)
 
lovely day a bit windy but nice cats been a bugger though but thats charlie for you and at least im not racked with paranoia or craving anything for once :)
 
Moving out can be good. The best thing I've done.

Positive about my life now is being able to go back to swimming regularly. It gives me hope about my sobriety.
 
Finished up the road trip with the sun setting behind the rockies.. missed that quite a bit.
 
Payday! It's surprisingly sunny too in Vancity today
 
Mines going to be long, but it made my day and maybe even my week/month. I've always enjoyed talking with immigrants. Especially the ones that come from Africa to work in this small town in the middle of nowhere to work with older, often racist midwesterns in the dementia unit where i am a social worker. I'm gay and moved here too but at least i don't wear my differences on the outside. I just respect the courage, thick skin and determination that it takes to do the job with compassion and treat the residents as human beings when they often do not return the favor.

I know also what it's like to go to a country where your ignorance of language means your basically an illiterate mute until you learn the launguage, as i lived in South Korea for a year. Nonetheless, as a tall, 6'4, white skinned, blue eyed, blonde haired man, who's had the characteristic "attractive and/or very attractive" ascribed to himself. In South Korea these are desirable characteristics that allow you to practically get away with murder and at the very least skip lines, get in VIP and drink free at all the best clubs. i had a different experience over there than i imagine the immigrants i visit with have had here.

Enough background. I was visiting with a night shift aid i do not get a chance to see too often. One day she asked me if i knew the biblical meaning of my name, and i admittedly did not and when i asked her she told me to go look it up. I did and it intrigued me. I was working late one night and we started talking about coffee. She greatly enjoys coffee, and it is grown in her home country.

Growing up in Seattle myself, i'm a bit of a coffee snob and look down upon corporate coffee Starbucks ect and prefer micro batch roasted fair trade coffee i order online with a known roast dates from quality vendors. I have a few very nice double walled stainless steel French Press coffee makers, that cost about about $100 each on Amazon. They're pretty amazing. I also have an Areo press, which honestly i actually use more often these days, unless i have company over. She wanted to know if i grind my beans, which of course i do, with a burr grinder and i actually have a thermo-pot which keeps 4 quarts of water @ 210 degrees, the perfect temp, just off the boil, to brew coffee 24/7.

She was very interested in all of this and asked me to bring in a french press to show her. For some reason i just had a good feeling about her. So i decided i would bring one in to show her. Unbeknownst to her, i also decided i would offer to sell her one for $40, as i have 3 of them, which do not get much use these days and 2 are plenty even when company is over.

I also decided that payment would be made by a receipt proving she made a donation to a charity in Africa with the only stipulation being it was not a church organization. I let her know i prefered clean drinking programs because as Americans we take access to clean potable water for granted.

This was the part that made my day. She said "let me tell you something, I only work, instead of retire, so i can go to garage sales, thrift stores and collect donations. Then i pay the freight to ship these things back to africa to give away to the poor in my country." I was shocked at the generosity of this woman. The challenges she puts up with on a daily basis to help out the community she came from. She said she takes it all, clothing/shoes of all sizes, furnitures, durable medical supplies like wheel chairs and walkers, pretty much anything and everything. She ships it over and then goes with her husband to the weekly market and instead of selling her items gives it away to whoever can actually use it. For example she reserve recliners for the elderly, clothing/shoes for whoever it fits, ect. Last year she spent $6K in freight alone

I suppose the whole thing could be a scam, but i checked around with a few other people and it all seems legit and she never approached me. The entire thing was my idea, I just recognized it was a "luxury" item this hardworking, patient and kind woman deserved and when i heard the entire story it not only made my day it reaffirmed my decision to make sure she got it. She probably wouldnt have EVER spend $100 on a french press for herself, but i'm certain she will enjoy it. Very few people know what a coffee bloom is, and that alone made me want to give her one. She said she'll show me the receipt for last years freight bill next week and that's good enough for me.

Sorry it was longer than most but it was the most positive thing to happen in my day in quite some time.
 
Im going to a birthday party tonight. Been months since i have gone out and socialized. Im very excited to meet my friends again, catch up and chat etc.
 
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