It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got....

When I started writing on this blog several weeks ago, the idea was for me to find ways to enjoy life each day in spite of the crappy situation we were dealing with. There was another part of it too...and that was to find ways to be appreciative of what I have without always longing for what I don't. That is what today's post is about.

Several years ago, we held a retreat, and one of the gals who attended took an afternoon off and drove to the riverfront in St. Charles. Later that day, she told me how much she enjoyed our "beautiful river." I will admit, I laughed. After I asked her if she was joking. I had never looked upon our river as beautiful. And this gal lives near the beach in South Carolina...I remember thinking to myself, how can she live near the Atlantic ocean for crying out loud, and think the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri is beautiful? At the same time, her view of our river gave me a new appreciation for it. It is only a few blocks....walking distance...from my office, and I never really took the time to appreciate it. I don't go down to the river often, usually just for a festival or something, and to be honest, I never paid much attention to the river. Now, whenever I do go, which still isn't often, I think of her and how she was able to see the beauty in something I see all the time and never really appreciated.

Back to the point of this post...one of my goals in writing on this blog is to appreciate what I have and not long for what I don't. Wow, that is so hard for me at times! I always find myself longing for so many things I do not have. Not material things by the way.

So with that all said, I love the beach. I could live at the beach. I crave it when I haven't been there for a long time. And it's been a LONG time. Maybe that is why it was so foreign to me that someone could look at the Missouri River and think it is beautiful. It's not the Atlantic Ocean. And it's not the Gulf of Mexico with it's aquamarine waters lapping over white sandy beaches. It's the MISSOURI RIVER. Muddy. Unnaturally flowing from South to North through St. Charles. Full of logs and sticks and who knows what all debris that it's picked up on it's travels southward.

No, the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri is no Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. But, does that mean it's not beautiful in it's own way? Like I already said, I still don't go down to the river very often, but whenever I do,I don't look at it the same way I used to...I always think of her saying how beautiful our river is.

It's not a huge surprise to anyone who reads this blog that my life has been full of stress lately. Lots of stress. More than I have written about. One day last week, I decided that I was going to go to the river and take a short walk to de stress before I went to work. Not a power walk...I didn't want to go to work all sweaty and gross...I thought I would walk for just a few minutes and enjoy the sights. I happened to have my camera in the car, so I grabbed it. And I did something I have never done in all of my years of living in St. Charles...I took a picture of the river. Well, I take that back...I did take pictures of the river once before, in 1993, when the river flooded.

As I walked that morning, I noticed things I'd never noticed before. Like the way the early morning sunshine sparkled on the water. I took my camera from my purse, and took a couple of pictures. I sat on a bench and just watched the muddy waters flow. I watched a flock of geese circle and then land in a grassy area on the edge of the river. And I thought, "Wow, it really IS beautiful here. And peaceful."

This week, I made taking a short walk along the river part of my morning routine, even when I was running a few minutes late for work. I didn't go this morning because it was threatening rain, and I didn't have an umbrella with me. I am looking forward to walking as the season changes to fall because I'm sure it's probably even prettier then as the river banks are lined with trees. I don't think I have ever been there in the fall.

To wrap this up...this is one small way that I am trying to focus on the good things around me. While I would much rather spend my morning walking along a sandy beach, that's never going to happen. So I might as well enjoy what IS here, right in front of me.

Here are a few pictures I've taken over the past week as I walked along the river: