Spice

A message shared during Appreciation Service from Cal Crawford

Picture yourself at a big, sit-down family dinner. The table is full, everyone is seated and there are mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, milk glasses filled... yet everyone waits. There's something missing, so everyone nibbles while saving room for that awaited blessing. And then, the moment we've all been waiting for!
            That almond-crusted
                                  apple-marinated
                                               cinnamon-tinged turkey on the silver platter.

For some reason, regardless of how good every item on that table is
                  that lemon-squeezed
                                         cashew-covered
                            strawberry-sliced turkey takes everyone's attention!

But ladies, today I am here as an advocate for those non-turkey dinner items. These innocent food platters, delicious, mouthwatering in their own spoonful, are overlooked. They're dubbed as simple, room-fillers... poor platters!

For example, string beans. String beans never get enough credit. Not much work is required - cook them in some water, throw them in a bowl... not much needed. But! Were that turkey not there... and that lone plate of beans remained, I guarantee we'd give them a lot more credit.

Such, ladies, is life.

So often I will take an event in the future, such as rock climbing! Or seeing my parents! Or the day I get to go to the beach. And I'll look forward to it so much, that I'll waste the rest of the week expecting much more from the future.

I'm challenging all of us, myself included, to give the simple, everyday moments more credit than we do. There's hidden flavoring in every single moment. A natural spice, we could call it.
         Combing a friend's hair.
                              
                             Plunging a toilet.
                                                  
                                                 Waiting outside the bung for the bugle.

Reading a book.
                       
                           Learning how to make friendship bracelets.
                 
                   Summiting a mountain.

Every second of our lives contains natural spice and value, a moment to learn, a moment to grow, a moment to try something new, a moment to accomplish something you hate... When it comes down to it, meals need more than a couple of turkeys for full satisfaction. And similarly, our lives, when we tally up the moments, are made up of far more "in-betweens".

So today, I'm advocating natural spice: How cozy I feel sitting cross-legged in my fleece pants. A cool breeze pushing my hair back. It doesn't matter what it is, it's about finding the individual worth and value of the simplest moments.

Natural spice is capable of being found in every breath. We don't have to waste/push through/distract ourselves anymore of the present, and I promise, it is much more fulfilling, than any
                                      almond-coated
                                                        honeydew
                                                                  paprika-basked turkey.