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Three Encounters With Daisy- small things to overlook and NOT ignore |
Mary Wetsel is a resident of The Merriman. She has a history in this building as she served on the Board of Trustees when 209 Merriman was known as Sumner on Merriman.
Mary currently lives in Assisted Living. Her smile and engaging ways are evident to all that cross her path. When she first met our facility dog, Daisy, she fell instantly in love.
One of the times I took Daisy to visit Mary the conversation turned to our shared experiences with dogs and most specifically dog hair. I am sure that I left my frustration show as Daisy the alleged shed free dog was shedding with the best of them. Being a borderline OCD’er the presence of hair on our wood floors at home was pushing me to the end of my limits.
As I was whining away I began a sentence in my rant with the words, “DOG HAIR…”. Before I could finish the thought Mary chimed in “…is easily forgiven”.
On another day as we completed our visit and were leaving the room Mary said, “You (meaning Daisy) made my day.”
On a third visit I was again whining about dog duties including the incredibly shedding Daisy. When I offered the DOG HAIR introduction, Mary inserted the refrain “…is good for the soul.”
Three incidental encounters. In the totality of the universe they might not add up to much. Not much until one reflects upon the collective wisdom of people like Mary and how these vast repositories of wisdom and life perspective are too often packed away and ignored.
You see from my multitasking, hyperkinetic point of view things that should be incidental, easily forgiven and passed over become central and controlling. Things like dog hair and lights left on and toothpaste tubes not squeezed just so dominate the landscape of my life. Instead of letting them slide, forgiving them easily and recognizing those things as ultimately good for the soul I allow them to trash the goodness in every moment I have to be alive and involved in this thing called life.
Mary gave me two lessons in life. Don’t overlook the small things like stopping in to spend some time with a friend. At the same time we should all look past the small things that should be easily forgiven and in the final analysis forgotten. That forgiveness and refocusing on things really important will benefit the eternal soul.
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