"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
- John Wooden
When Philippe and I got married I put a plastic bubble gum clock on our registry. Philippe said, "No one will buy that for us." One of my best friends did. She knows me so well.
The clock was actually not a bubble gum clock. You could fill it with whatever you wanted. I filled it with bubble gum balls. All the colors of the rainbow! I was shocked by how many bags of bubble gum balls it took to fill that thing. 13 bags!
I loved loved loved that clock. It made me so happy – just looking at it. It was the first thing that everyone commented on when they walked into our kitchen. So happy and bright and cheerful and playful.
Last week someone slammed the kitchen door – I ain't saying who – and the bubble gum clock fell off the wall and shattered. Boom!
My five year old son Dakota immediately started picking up all of the bubble gum balls which were scattered all over the kitchen floor. I noticed he had a tear in his eye and asked the little guy what was wrong. "I feel bad for you mommy," he cried. "I know how much you loved your bubble gum clock."
(Sidenote: I frequently say to myself throughout the day, "I want to be just like Dakota." This kid is pure love and compassion.)
I don't really get attached to material things but I have to say, I was bummed. My adorable husband and children immediately went online trying to find me another clock – just like that one.
The next morning, at 4:45 AM on my mat, it came to me. "I don't want another bubble gum clock. I don't need it and less is more. What I really loved was the colors of the bubble gum. I can reuse that bubble gum in different ways all throughout our house to spread that joy and color."
When I got home I put all the bubble gum balls in a big bowl and my kids and I started to glue the happy colorful balls on different frames and signs in our house. So fun!
We still have lots of colorful bubble gum balls left -- lots of color and joy to spread. And now those bubble gum balls are all throughout the white castle. Not just 13 bags in one clock in our kitchen.
The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.
Have the best day ever!
Namaste!
Taylor plus 5