Ordinary Moments...Extraordinary Life

By Michelle L Smith

Life is a series of moments.

Some are big, grandiose moments that change our lives altogether. But many are ordinary, seemingly insignificant blips of time. And when you add them all up, when you really pause and look at the collection of m

• Language: English
• Publisher: Two Different Boots, LLC
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781737006640

Michelle L Smith

Michelle lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, with her two teenage boys. She is a work in progress and continues to learn about herself every day.

Book preview

Contents

Introduction

Food and Drink

Around the House

Animals

Driving

Nature

Holidays

Friendships

Parenting

Family

Life-Changing Moments

Reflections

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

As a little girl, I always wanted to write.  I dreamt of becoming an author. 

I wrote poems and stories, even making up a series in 6th grade about a group of teenage detectives (formed by using the kids that sat in the row with me in our homeroom class).

My favorite 5th grade teacher, Mr. Gerald Route, let me read one chapter of my series (called The People Detectives) to his 5th grade class at the end of each school day.

I felt so proud, standing in the front of the class, reading my stories to them.  The clapping of hands at the end of each chapter was music to my ears.

I found those stories a few years ago, tucked away in a drawer. 

They were written in pencil on looseleaf, spiral-bound paper.  The words were fading, the paper softened with time.  I marveled at how much handwritten work I had done. 

Today I couldn’t imagine handwriting more than just the outline of my work.  Typing is so much faster; I can keep up with the thoughts going through my brain.

I finally finished transcribing them into a word document on my computer this year. 

Forever saved in the cloud now.

I had to laugh at my 12-year-old grammar and punctuation.  The little notes I had written in the margin.  One of them even gave my phone number and address in case my manuscript ever got lost.

A writer in heart, mind and soul.

My passion for writing shows up in everything I do in life. 

At work, you see it in how I communicate with my team and how I write emails and share details on projects we are completing. 

At home, you see it in how I communicate with the volunteer organizations I partner with or my son’s school. 

You even see my writing style in my social media posts and the way I communicate with my group members on Facebook.

I believe it’s important to bring our best selves to everything we do, and to integrate what we love and the values we hold into everything we do.

And I believe in seeing the good in everything.  Or at least trying to. 

We are human after all.

In 2018, I started writing a blog.  One post a week, capturing moments in my life that taught me lessons, and made me reflect on the way my experiences have shaped me.

My blog site is titled "We Are the Sum of Our Choices." 

It’s built on the premise that we all have choices, especially in how we respond to what happens around us. 

How we choose to see our ordinary moments, even the bad ones, shapes our lives. 

I often speak to that in my blog, frequently sharing moments in my life where I could have chosen to react in a negative way.  But instead, I chose to find the lesson and the sliver of good in every situation.

It took a lot of practice to be able to do this on a regular basis.  And I don’t always get it right. 

I don’t always make the best choices.  It’s pretty much impossible to do that all the time.

We are human beings, perfectly imperfect, and always a work in progress.

This book shares some of my favorite stories and images of the ordinary moments that have been opportunities to learn and teach me something.

And I hope it makes you think of your own collection of ordinary moments..and how they add up to a pretty extraordinary life.

Food and Drink

Most of us spend a lot of time with food - eating it, preparing it, cleaning up after it…

For those of you who are parents, how many times a week do you hear this?

There’s nothing to eat in this house!

"Where are all the good snacks?"

Can we stop and get something to eat?

What’s for dinner?

Yes, food is a big deal in our lives.  And we have lots of ordinary moments where food is involved. 

When I look back on my years raising my boys, there are so many memories of times we’ve spent with food.  Some that made me laugh, some that made me shake my head, and others that still make me nostalgic, years later. 

An overflowing cup of coffee, a midnight adventure in the kitchen, ice cream cones at the zoo, misshapen pancakes, chips and salsa, and great conversation, and what seems like a million bowls of popcorn while enjoying our favorite movies. 

These moments teach us lessons and add depth to our lives. 

Even the leftover ones.

One More Thing…

It was a rare Saturday morning at home where the boys and I had nowhere to go. 

We were enjoying the downtime and I was relaxing in bed, reading.  Jake offered to make me coffee and he went just a little overboard when he poured the creamer. 

Overflowing cup of coffee

I still remember the expression on his face when he came to tell me that he made a mess. 

When I came out to the kitchen to assess the damage, the first thing I thought was Wow, that would make a pretty cool picture! 

I think he was surprised that I wasn't upset.  That's one of the reasons this memory sticks with me; it was one of those rare times back then when the mess actually struck me as beautiful.

We laughed and I took a picture, and then we cleaned up the kitchen counter. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the extra sweet coffee with just a little bit too much creamer.  It was a simple, calm, wonderful morning. 

Now, when I have days where it feels like I just cannot take on one more thing, I try to remember how it felt that morning. 

Instead of seeing my life as an overflowing mess, I push myself to see things from a different perspective.

My life is filled with commitments, people that need me, problems to be solved, events and meetings to rush off to, and what seems like an endless To  Do list. 

There are days when I am acutely aware that just one more thing might put me over the edge. 

I've even been known to exclaim at the office, to no one in particular, Please God...not one more thing today!

●        Not one more project

●        Not one more meeting

●        Not one more frustrating encounter

And then there are days when I feel like I am on top of things, and one more thing comes out of the blue and catches me totally off guard.

●        Not one more event to fit in when I just got it all in the calendar

●        Not one more call from school when we thought things were on track

On those days, I look at the overwhelming mess that my life can be, and I think about that coffee creamer.  How the sugary sweetness of it poured over the top of the cup and all over the counter in a beautiful pattern.   I look at the one mores that make my life amazing and pour those on top of the ones that cause me stress.

●        One more hug

●        One more smile

●        One more successful project completed

●        One more walk with a great friend

●   One more girls night with wine and B-rated horror movies

●      One more poker game where the whole family is together

●      One more campfire under a starry sky

●       One more day to appreciate this amazing life

This has helped me in so many ways to power through the challenges in my life, so I give this advice to you:

When life is overflowing, pour the good stuff on the top. 

The mess it makes is that much more enjoyable to clean up!

Midnight Spaghetti

Several nights this past week, my house has been overrun by teenage boys.

I'm typically the only girl in the house (unless you count my cat), but this week we've had a few of my son's friends over and the testosterone levels have been twice as high as usual.

The boys are loud and silly, laughing one minute and arguing the next.  

They play video games like their lives depend on it and turn everything into a competition. 

And some of the things they say...is that even English they are speaking? 

It amazes me how they don't seem to take offense to all the teasing going on and how quickly they can get over being mad at each other. 

No grudges with these boys.

I find myself rolling my eyes at their jokes and cringing at their music. 

And then I have to laugh.  When did I get so old?

I wake up in the morning and there are random socks and soda cans and board games strewn about my living room. 

And in the kitchen sink: evidence of the midnight spaghetti.

The older boys are generally really good about including my pre-teen and letting him hang with them. 

Dishes in the sink from spaghetti

He gets such a kick out of it and loves to tell me stories about what they did while I was sleeping (or trying to anyway).

He told me that they were up making spaghetti at midnight.

He said it with such joy on his face, like it was the coolest thing ever.  I had to smile at the little things that can make him happy.

I could picture the four boys, hovering over the stove, giving each other instructions, probably arguing over how long to cook the noodles.

And overall, they didn't make too big of a mess out of my kitchen. 

At least the dirty dishes ended up in the sink, and I know that they can make one meal for themselves when they eventually move out. 

Score one for mom!

As adults, I feel like we sometimes get so caught up being responsible and worrying about everything we have to take care of in life that we forget to have fun.

When was the last time you made midnight spaghetti?

Or stayed up too late laughing with a good friend?

Or did something silly like taking off your shoes and jumping in a puddle after a rainstorm?

Or even just took a moment to look around you and smile at the good things in your life?

At what point when we grow up do we stop being so carefree, spontaneous and happy like these kids are?

Is it when we get our first real job, when we get married, when our first child is born?  When the first real bills start piling in?

Most likely it's a combination of all of those things.

The weight of all of the responsibilities we have as adults puts so much pressure on our brains that the fun parts get pushed way back into the corners.   At least that's my theory.

Let's take a lesson from these teenage boys.

They went to bed late last night, without a care in the world.

They are still sleeping even as I write this blog (and will be for a few hours yet I would bet).

They'll wake up this morning and have another day where they get to be silly and have fun and laugh at themselves and each other.

I think it's time for