Small victories

I walked on a beach yesterday and didn’t cry.

It may seem stupid in some ways, but as I have shared in previous posts, the beach is the most sacred of spaces that I associate with my late husband, and it has been more than two years since I have had the courage to do so. Like most small victories, I did not set out with a clear intention of breaking this self-imposed taboo. My niece was visiting Hull Massachusetts for a wedding and I drove there for the day to spend time with her.

It helped that my niece is very chatty and so I didn’t really have time to think about James that much, and how he would have loved discovering this beautiful stretch of beach with me. My niece lives in land-locked Montana, and was on a quest for sea shells that she could take home and transform into something else via a craft project. We kept busy looking down to find these small jewels as we walked and she talked.

Although I cried on the way home a bit, I had managed to wring out much enjoyment during our seaside walk.

Another victory this week – my cat Joey is back. I had trapped him a few days ago and flea-bitten and thin, he is recovering nicely from his five week odyssey to who knows where.

Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more. Louis L’Amour

I am grateful for these seemingly minor accomplishments. It does not take climbing Mount Everest to fill you with a sense of achievement. It can be as simple as sleeping through the night for the first time in months following a painful injury, or successfully completing a work project a year in the making.

I’m sitting in my easy chair this morning listening to the rain patter on the leaves of the trees outside, my skinny cat curled up on my lap, drinking coffee and sharing these thoughts with you.

Victories, my friend.