Today’s post wraps up the contest entries. Thank you to all the people who added a little positivity to The Green Study in the month of October!
In November, I know many people will disappear into the deep hole of NaNoWriMo. While I won’t be participating this year, as I have a work-in-progress, I’ll be furiously writing away, word counts be damned. Take a breather and stop by here for some encouragement, a laugh or just a sympathetic, weary nod of agreement. I’ll be posting throughout the month, taking breathers from the novel. Best wishes to you all!
Last, but not least, is an Honorable Mention post by Alison at Adventures in Wonderland, whose entry “Sometimes We Take For Granted Those Who Are Most Important To Us” is self-explanatory.
Alison is carrying on her nomadic journeys, so she received an e-postcard from Minnesota and $25 was donated to the Red Cross on her behalf.
Sometimes We Take For Granted Those Who Are Most Important To Us
By Alison at Adventures in Wonderland
This morning I said to my husband Don:
Michelle at The Green Study is having a story contest. She wants a 400 to 800-word piece about something positive, and I can’t think of a single thing to write about. It’s been sitting with me for a week and I can’t think of anything.
I’m almost always positive. I’m one of those annoying Pollyanna types who sees the good in everything, and I couldn’t think of anything to write about.
He looked at me and said: Write about me! With a big grin on his face.
At first I was bewildered, and didn’t know how to react, or how to let him down kindly. It didn’t seem to remotely fit the required theme. Don was still grinning.
Then I read out loud the requirements: a positively happy nice incident, an admirable person in your life, unwitting luck or fortunate consequences. Bingo! He fulfills all the categories – for me he is a continuous positively happy nice incident, being with him is the biggest piece of unwitting luck or fortunate consequences to ever happen to me, and I admire him enormously. Here’s why:
Don is a kind man. It’s not that he never gets upset with others but his basic nature is one of kindness. He is sensitive to his environment and to others. He mostly wants to feel good and to have others feel good. He questions his place in the world but at the same time is one of the wisest people I know. He always goes to the heart of the matter, looking for deeper meaning than the waves on the surface. He is not afraid to look with open eyes into his own depths and to clear what needs to be cleared. He is not afraid to feel his feelings. He is always pursuing authenticity.
He is steady and organized and takes care of business. He never puts things off, but sees to what needs to be done in a better than timely manner. I’m a procrastinator, but not Don. He’s always on top of everything and helps me to be as well.
My Don is a good good man who takes care of me, but at the same time allows me to be 
myself. He makes few demands. He’s committed to clear communication and authenticity, and he chooses love. Even in the face of discord he chooses love. He chooses the path of courage to face the truth, courage to be seen no matter how shameful it may be, courage to stand his ground in things that matter to him. He says clearly what he wants and needs. At the same time he can be flexible, bending like the willow, his roots firmly planted, but branches flying free when the situation demands it. He’s willing to admit when he’s been wrong.
He has many qualities I admire, but I think above all I admire his commitment to the truth. I don’t mean the scientific truth, I mean his own deeply felt truth – the truth in his heart and soul and body about what’s right or not for him, and his quiet determination to live by that.
He’s intelligent and thoughtful, and a good listener even if I sometimes have to start with: pay attention to me now.
Plus he’s funny. When I wonder out loud from time to time how on earth he puts up with me he says it’s because he’s a living saint.
So I read to him what I’ve written. Later we’re out for a walk and start talking about it. He says he never knew I thought that way about him. I guess I need to be more communicative. Anyway, I say: I constantly admire and appreciate and enjoy you. And you let me!
To which he replied: It’s my best trick.
So I get to spend my days with the person I admire the most, and I didn’t even think to write about him. Sometimes we take for granted those who are most important to us.
Congratulations Alison!
Here’s an Adventures in Wonderland sampler:
Do You Want a Home or Do You Want a Life?
The Green Study 
How beautiful. And what a poignant lesson. It can feel so vulnerable to acknowledge how much somebody means to us, especially when it’s a unique relationship like a spouse. Speaking (or writing) their importance brings to light the potential for tremendous loss, should something ever happen. And it also multiplies the joy and appreciation in the present. So choose acknowledgement and celebration for the latter, right? Thank you so much for the reminder, and best wishes to you both! 😊
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Thank you so much Catherine. It was a lovely exercise for Don and I. Although I frequently express my love for him I’d never articulated all the different things that I appreciate about him. I feel very blessed to have him in my life. He’s a good guy. I think I’ll keep him on 🙂
Definitely choosing acknowledgement and celebration!
Alison
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