In looking back over Thomas Leonard’s 28 Principles of Attraction, I zeroed in on attraction #21 because it is such a good reminder for me to remember that there is something bigger than me out there at the helm of this universe…and that something has a pretty dastardly sense of humor at times as well.

Tonight my beloved and I were invited to a friend of some good friends of ours 60th birthday party celebration.  David and I are younger than most of the group, but we still enjoy joining everyone for fun and frolicking.  What was especially perfectly imperfect about tonight and this particular event is that most of the people at the party, of course, drink but many of them also imbibe in the wacky tobacco and all kind of versions therein.  And to think that just this morning I had picked up a gold chip for 20 years of back-to-back abstinence with a good friend of mine who also celebrated 20 years as well. In fact, during the party I could feel that gold chip rolling around in my purse as David and I flitted from place to place to find somewhere located out of the smoke!

For me, seeing how perfect the present is, especially when it is clearly not helps me to realign myself with what I believe is important in my life.  Even with the 20 years, the co-dependent part of me wondered what it would be like to have a specialized brownie.   People seemed to be having so much fun.  But then, as my love and I reminisced about how we were when we used to do that kind of stuff all the time, we quickly realized that if we’d been imbibing like the rest of the party goers, both of us would have ended up alone on a coach somewhere staring at our feet and not participating much in all that was going on around us.

We departed after a good two-hour period and left with enough light in the sky that we allowed us to enjoy a herd of deer by the roadside eating grass from heads bearing fuzzy antlers.  The kitties have been brought in for the evening and fed, water bowls have been changed and now we’re going to cuddle up and watch the next episode of Foley’s War from Netflix.  May not sound very exciting to some folks out there but sometimes excitement isn’t what my soul is yearning for sometimes what my soul is yearning for is just plain ole contentment.

I heard two women share horrific stories in the meeting this morning that would curl the hair on most people’s heads but in spite of it they were sober and hopeful.  I’m glad I have the memory of the soul-strength that each of these women exhibited today in the midst of the stark reality of what they were going through because it helped me to believe more clearly how important it is to see how perfect the present is, especially when it is clearly not.  And it soothed the side of me tonight that just for a little bit, felt different than the other people at the party.  I know that today I want to be able to see life on life’s terms and take on life on life’s terms when and however it happens.  And to be honest with myself, as much as I’d like to think of myself as being a groovy party animal who knows when enough is enough, I am neither!!