Wednesday, April 27, 2016

The best things in life

“The best things in life are free. The second best things are very, very expensive,” said Coco Chanel.

Expensive is nice if you can afford it. I admit to splurging on a pair of shoes or a bottle of perfume. But the very best things in my life come with memories…like pistachio ice cream. When I was in elementary school, we lived around the corner from a diner-cum-ice cream shop. My mother would take me there for lunch. We’d sit in a booth and eat burgers and drink sodas and play songs on the jukebox. Then we’d get pistachio ice cream cones to eat on the way home.

The day of my high school graduation. I’d give up pistachio ice cream to have the chance to relive this day. It was a hot June afternoon. The school I attended, a two-story red brick structure from the 1940s, did not have air conditioning, so the graduation ceremony was held in the auditorium of a new school in the next town. Afterwards, my mother prepared a special family dinner to celebrate the occasion. I will never pass this way again.

Sometimes the best things in my life are the simple things, like the quiet of an early morning (the perfect time to write), or receiving and offering words of appreciation. Thank you for your help. Thank you for a job well done. Thank you for being my friend.

Have you ever had a day when everything hums along and nothing breaks, leaks, hisses, spits, or pees on the carpet? That day.

Summer cookouts in the backyard.
Reading a good book.
Staying up late.
Falling into bed after a long day.
A favorite song.

Being lucky. You know the definition of luck? It’s opportunity meeting preparation. You must prepare yourself to be lucky.

The scent of breakfast. One night, not long after I moved into my current home, I woke up at 3 a.m. The local fast-food restaurant was cooking breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast, coffee. It was springtime, and my bedroom window was open. There must have been a zillion calories wafting in the breeze. Delicious!

And this: When you’re given another day, another chance to make things right. It’s the ultimate best thing in life.

Published on medium.com/@marshanathanson.