Una tazza di tè

At 25 years old, I have come to notice how fast the world and life move, always in a rush, always eager to make the extra dollar, and always missing out on what is in front of you. A couple winters ago I found myself getting sucked into the black hole of life. I was working all week, getting stressed on the ride in, being miserable when I came home, being mean to my family because I have been nice to strangers all day, and too tired to do anything. What was I doing wrong? I worked out regularly enough, I ate pretty healthy, I had (still have) great friends, family and boyfriend (now fiancé!) I thought some of it probably had to do with the winter, but it carried over into other seasons, so I decided to see my Doctor. I thought maybe there was some sort of medicine to help me, (I'm sure she was ready to give me a placebo by the time she was done with me and my squawking.) So what was her magic prescription? A deep breath, and some fresh air 15 minutes a day. Was she serious? I was having chest pains I was so stressed with work, my moods were very rarely happy, and she wanted me to take a deep breath outside? This is what I was spending my $20 co pay on? One of my biggest frustrations as a Dental Hygienist is not everyone takes our professional medical advice seriously, so determined to not be one of those annoying know it all patients, I decided to take her advice, and little did I know it would help me as much as it did. 


Now I am not here to write about how I am a "changed person", I'm not, and even if I was, who cares? I still get chest pains from stress, I still get blue in the winter, and I can still have a negative outlook on things and whine and complain 'til the cows come home. It would be weird and unnatural if I didn't get and feel all these things, but I have been doing so much better! The advice my Doctor gave me was to just stop. Stop everything for a short minute and take that deep breath once a day. She told me spend 15 minutes a day outside, no matter the weather. She said there is something in the natural light whether its raining or sunny that makes us happier. So I promised her I would go outside. I started by walking the dog for 15 min a few times a week, then I started to take longer walks more frequently because the weather was nicer. Then came the snow. Shit! Now what? SNOWSHOES! I snowshoed every weekend, whether it was on a golf course, mountain, or my backyard, I was out in the damn snow every single weekend, and even walked the neighborhood during the frigid week. The more I was outside, the more I started to realize just how small me and my problems were. I started to notice small things in the scenery on my walks that I otherwise would not think to care about. I was literally stopping and smelling the roses! (or dandelions since those were mainly the only flowers on my walk...still good though, still good).

I have been fortunate for most of my life to have all 4 grandparents, but after my grandmother passed, I decided to visit my Grandpa more frequently. So being the glorified walker that I had become, I decided to make the long trek to my Grandpa's house. It triggered me visiting my other set of grandparents more often as well, and the more I visited all of them the more I learned, but the two main lessons I took from them were the lesson of simplicity and the lesson of tea. 

Everything in their lives were so simple, and they were always so happy and content. Now, of course they did not grow up in the generation of having every electronic under the sun like we have today, but maybe that was part of the key to their happiness, they were not always connected to some handheld device. They are out doing things like playing  games of shuffleboard, horseshoes, and bocci, and you should see the excitement of those senior citizens when they score! They don't own kindles, they have physical books, they don't play solitaire on the computer, they play with a deck of cards, they have puzzle books, and actual 1,000 piece backwards and upside down puzzles...you catch my drift. They were just so happy with others in their company doing simple small things. And then the tea. They ALWAYS sit down to a cup of tea and cookie...EVERYDAY! They aren't English, where is this coming from?? But we should always listen to our elders, even Sheldon Cooper knows what good comes from a cup of tea. 

So what is the point of all my rambling? Other than putting off my paper that is due Monday, my point is we should all do something throughout the day that is just for us, and allows the world to slow down, even it if is just for a minute; a deep breath, a small walk, or a cup of tea. So thus my blog is made Una tazza di tè...a cup of tea. I considered naming it The Simple Life, but I forgot for a split second that these two ladies already covered that ground.