The Happy Bomb

It was the first weekend of December, that Saturday, and I wasn’t just “low”, I was wallowing. It was a week after the first anniversary of my father’s passing; I was feeling the pressures of the holiday season upon us and I was sleep deprived—11 months postpartum and my baby still not sleeping through the night. Also, simply, the state of the world.

I was walking down Frankford Avenue in Fishtown, Philadelphia where we live, in a daze while being pretty tough on myself within. Suddenly, two dudes came barreling out of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. One of them looked at me and said,

“Look at you! Living your best life!! You’ve got your baby and your drink, it’s Saturday!”

I was in total shock. He could have mugged me and I may have had the same blank reaction.

I looked down at myself—my son on my chest in the carrier, a kombucha I had been chugging like a beer in my hand. It took a little while, hours even, for it to hit me: I AM living my best life. I am so grateful, so fortunate. Wow.

Yes, in that moment I may have wished I had been the “free” and blissed out Van Leeuwen dude, whom I felt was living HIS best life (and pretty sure he is!) —but wow, here I am living my own and I didn’t even realize it.

Thanks dude for snapping me to! It turned out to be a really wonderful month for me and I’ll simply never forget that moment — the best way I can describe as a happy bomb .

Let’s not hesitate to say hello, smile and encourage one another around here and everywhere we go. You just never know how you might impact someone’s day, or life