The Bliss Mistress Guide: B Gr8ful

Readers of a certain age will remember the man on the Ed Sullivan show whose talent was spinning plates, first on his finger tip and then on a stick. He would add bowls and cups once the others were rapidly circumnavigating. My life often feels like that, with the added self -induced stress that I must not allow any of the plates to hit the deck. I keep loading on more spinning objects, metaphorically tap dancing simultaneously. Sometimes all of that activity catches up to me and stuff slips between the cracks. This past week, it did just that.

Although I don’t want to project or reinforce stereotypes around aging, I have noticed more frequent ‘wise woman moments’, formerly known as ‘middle aged moments’; the idea being that the older we get, the wiser we get. The hard drive gets full and I have not learned to delete unnecessary ‘files’. I generally consciously and sometimes with verbal confirmation, put my keys on my dresser, my ATM card in my wallet after using it and my cell phone charger in my purse. And on a blessedly rare occasion I don’t. On Saturday, after enduring a week in which I had severe lower back pain that was remedied by chiro-care, topical analgesic, massage and ibuprofen, I was heading to the bank, to take money out of the friendly MAC machine. Uh oh happened as I couldn’t find the lovely blue card that gives me access to funds. I called my son at home and asked him to check the pockets of the coat I thought I had on when I last used the card…no luck. So, I went into the bank and asked them to cancel it and send me a new one. Then last night, I noticed I was running out of checks, so I went to the bank this morning to order new ones and get temporary checks. Last week, my BFF Barb who I have known since we were 14, and who is a seasoned accountant, came over to help me organize my bookkeeping. This right brain creative type has a rather under-developed left brain, linear side. I am blessed to have her and her hubby Glenn who is my financial advisor, to pick up that aspect of my life. She asked me for bank statements for certain months and I couldn’t lay my hand on them, so the trip to the bank today had a multi-purpose. I had an interesting revelation while there. I was the only customer there and one teller was printing out temporary checks, one was printing out the statements and one was handling withdrawal of cash. I laughed at the attention and thanked them for taking such good care of me. The irony is, that I am often reluctant to receive that kind of support, even though I do this all day long for other people.

On my way to my day job as a social worker in a hospital in which I offer ‘concierge service’ in the form of case management, I spied a car with a telling license plate

B GR8FUL. I smiled and took it as a cue to play the Gratitude Game and take notice throughout the day of all the things for which I (sometimes in advance) give thanks. Even in the midst of a challenging set of circumstances at work and upon returning home, discovering that the power was out on my street. Not sure why, since there was no storm and other homes in the development had power. I got back in the car and headed to my favorite local hangout called The Zen Den. A lovely little coffee house, community gathering space in Doylestown, PA, I got to enjoy chai and a gooey grilled cheese sandwich and was greeted by a group of women friends who sat at the next table.

All in all a day for which I am thank-full!

Edie Weinstein (a.k.a. Bliss Mistress) is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring motivational speaker, interfaith minister, bliss coach, and social worker. She is the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary. www.liveinjoy.org