I woke up a little early this morning and headed downstairs. Looking outside, I saw a very clear dark sky and a blanket of fresh, new snow. The thermometer on the back porch read 22 degrees and I admired the twinkling diamonds on the snow that had fallen across my backyard. I stood at the glass kitchen door for a bit and watched two of my kitties loping along a little path they’d made toward the creek. They looked like otters playing as they ran along. I guess my presence wasn’t a secret for long because two more kitties came to the door wanting in. So I opened up, and in they came along with our Bernese Mountain Dog, Sugar Bear. They all went straight for the water and food bowls, so I headed for our front room. My weenie dog finally joined me, but seemed irritated that I’d gotten out of bed early. She found her place on the left side of my chair. There is just enough room for both of us and we snuggled in together. I read some correspondence and finished opening yesterday’s mail, and my teenie weenie fell back asleep. Her little snoring has always has always made me smile.
The calm, quiet of the morning was abruptly broken when Sugar Bear came bounding in and jumped up onto my lap without notice. The weenie took off and was replaced by 86 lbs of happy Bernie. She schnoozled up to me for kisses and within a minute, was comfortable and falling asleep. So there we sat, a sleepy, snoring Sugar Bear and me, alone in a quiet, dark house watching dawn start to break. As I stroked her head, and listened to her breathing, I just felt perfectly contented. One of those moments in time when all is well. I’m a big believer that noticing perfect little moments and quietly breathing them in feeds our human souls.
In our busy, overwhelming world, just allowing ourselves the time and space to lean into moments of pure, simple joy and contentment is as therapeutic and healing as any kind of therapy session. We all too often focus on the negative, the challenges before us, and the conflicts that overwhelm our lives and world. I’m not sure if I have any answer on how to turn that off; but I’ve found peace in a couple simple habits. When I wake in the morning, I stretch, yawn and thank God for another day. I ask Him to hug Fred and the rest of my family in heaven, and then I either read my bible or I focus on the biblical verse I read yesterday, how it applied to my life, and what lessons I have to learn from it. My entire upstairs morning routine takes about 15 minutes but instead of waking and immediately thinking about what I have to accomplish on the ranch, my routine allows me time and space to center myself and give myself over to God’s word and will as I start my day.
Once I get downstairs, it’s such a bonus if I get a little more “internal” time before the day begins. That’s the gift I got this morning, and I can’t think of a better example of self care and time well spent than to give oneself over to such moments.
Kris Stewart is a rancher from Paradise Valley, Nevada.
