Pick It Up

There it was.

A tiny piece of a wrapper, left over from a snack, perhaps, staring up at me from the kitchen floor.

Instead of letting the choices overwhelm me (pick it up, step over it, call the kids upstairs to make an example of this, find out what it is, who left it, make sure they know not to do it again, ...), 

I just bent over, picked it up, and threw it away.

Just like that.

I stopped and took care of what was right in front of me.

My mind being the way it is, I thought, "huh, this could be a great lesson!". That immediately led to thinking about the number of times I've stepped over the "trash" - in my own home, on the streets of my neighborhood, an in my mind.

That which doesn't seem important at the time is overlooked.

In those times, I've been too busy. I've been on my way somewhere, walking headstrong towards my destination, lost in thoughts of what I need to do when I get there. Whether I was walking towards the dishwasher carrying my dirty dishes or down the street towards the library, I was always in the middle of something.

Too busy to stop and notice what is. 

Now THERE'S a good lesson.

Today, I will practice slowing down enough to take care of what is - right here, right now.

Whether that is pausing to acknowledge an angry thought before I speak, mindfully folding the laundry instead of getting caught up in thoughts about what more productive things I could be doing, or simply stopping to pick up the next out-of-place thing I see lying on the kitchen floor without fuming about how it got there, I will honor the pause and the pace.

Join me.