There Is Something Comforting In The Ordinary

She looked around at her life through half opened eyes, and smiled at her sleeping husband as she pushed the bed covers back. She softly kissed his forehead as he slept. She pulled on her tennis shoes for her daily walk. It was 6 am. The sun was already lighting up the sky as she glanced at the dinner dishes piled in the sink, waiting for their trip to the dishwasher. When she turned she caught a glimpse of the refrigerator covered in pictures, take out menus, grocery lists, and snippets of stuff. The cat needs more food in his dish, the bed sheets are still in the dryer, and the house is quiet. The children not up yet to greet the new day. She likes the quiet. The alone time. Time to think.

Sometimes life seems so mundane. She supposes it is in a lot of ways. It's difficult to make dirty socks on the floor, and cleaning toilets exciting. Making coffee for her husband is not really "an event", although her husband tells her he appreciates it. The kids grumble about getting up, but they hug her each morning. She knows she is loved. She makes breakfast, checks her calendar for the day, and sees what is new in the world as she flips the channel to the news. Some exciting stuff---some not so exciting stuff. She wipes down the counter as she contemplates the average. The ordinary. The routine.

She found out the other day that yet another of her friends has a marriage that is in trouble. It appears the long married couple is on the verge of becoming a statistic. Her heart hurts. She wonders if life ever gets easier for anyone? She doubts it. There always appear to be issues to deal with, things that need corrected, and papers that need filed. She compares people to being students of life---all of us waiting to see if our term papers comes back with red marks all over them.

She has it a lot better than most. She realizes this, and she is grateful for every one of her days. She wouldn't give up what she has for all the money in the world. That is the truth. There is something comforting about the ordinary. Knowing that for the most part, things will be the same. Understanding that, helps the not-so-ordinary times be  less scary. Some would try and tell her that is boring.

She would disagree.