Appreciate the Mundane Moments
I don’t know too many people who truly enjoy doing the dishes. Or laundry. Or sweeping the floor. Cleaning the toilets. Washing windows. Vacuuming. Dusting. Taking out the garbage.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Mundane moments in life. Routine chores. Things that have to get done every day. Every week.
I don’t know anyone who truly enjoys these mundane moments.
Wait…
Hhmmm…
Maybe I do know people who WOULD appreciate these mundane moments if given the opportunity to do so.
The single mom in the outskirts of Antigua, Guatemala. The one raising her three kids in a one-room shack with a dirt floor and an open cooking fire in the center of her “home.”
The kids in Peru being raised by parents who exploit, abuse & neglect them.
The guy on the street who doesn’t know where his next meal will come from or where he will sleep tonight. In the shelter? In the alley? Huddled together with other homeless men who must depend on each other’s body heat to survive the winter night?
The family with three-generations cramped together in a two-bedroom apartment with no heat other than an open oven door, with multiple locks on the doors, and with constant violence on the street down below.
These individuals — and so many others around the world — would probably love to have a safe, secure, comfortable home which needed cleaned, washed, picked-up. These individuals can’t even imagine having a closet filled with clothes. So many clothes. Enough clothes to wear a different outfit every day of the week. Can you imagine the luxury?!?
And don’t even get me started on the unspeakable reality of having a refrigerator & pantry filled with food! Just imagine what it must be like to only have to work 40-hours a week to provide an abundance of food for your family. So much food. Enough food that you get to have seconds each meal & leftovers to eat tomorrow.
Can you imagine a home where a husband & wife love each other? Where kids are protected & nurtured? Where you have enough free time to play games, take a nap, watch TV, surf the web? Where you feel secure enough to sleep at night without fear?
Can you imagine a life where you have time to enjoy hobbies or to get together with friends for a cup of coffee? Where you have the freedom to fill out college applications for your kids? Where you have the opportunity to imagine what your retirement will look like some day?
I’ve met many people around the world who can’t fathom what I’m describing. People who would love to experience the mundane moments of doing the dishes or laundry. Sweeping the floor. Cleaning the toilets. Washing the windows. Vacuuming. Dusting. Taking out the garbage.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Safe. Secure. Comfortable.
Maybe we need to learn to appreciate the mundane moments in life. Because what is “mundane” to us is sheer extravagance to many others.
