The value of rituals

When my mother was in remission from what was her terminal illness, she was at home for a while and tried going back to work. She told me that it was the first time in her life that she actually enjoyed going to work, because she had a new appreciation of life from being so close to the edge. She told me that coffee never smelled so good, food tasted wonderful and she was happy to see almost everyone. She didn't even mind doing laundry, because it beat lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines and unable to do anything for yourself. At the time, I appreciated what she said, but I couldn't really understand it.

Then.....

A year ago this week, I was in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism. I went to work out and couldn't catch my breath, and I assumed it was just bad allergies even though they had never been that bad before. The next day, I could barely breathe and I knew something serious was wrong, so I asked my husband to take me to the ER. They ran some tests and told me to my astonishment that my lungs were full of blood clots and I was lucky to have made it there in time. I spent two days in the hospital and had a surgical procedure to filter the clots out. The doctor took me off birth control pills, which I had been taking to control migraines, and put me on blood thinners. The nurses seemed to delight in telling me stories of other patients with PE who weren't so lucky.

"I was talking to this one lady who was in bed and suddenly she just keeled over, dead as a doornail! She threw a clot and it went to her heart. Gone, just like that!"

"There was one guy, younger than you, who dropped dead in the waiting room. that was a PE too. You're really lucky they got yours in time".

I was very surprised when they told me I had the clots, but the nurses' stories made me realize just how fortunate I really was. I had a genetic test to make sure that I wasn't genetically inclined to have blood clots; it seemed to be just a freak occurrence because of the birth control pills. I stopped them immediately. I was happy to go home, because I might not have had the chance to do that again.

I was thinking about how important the little rituals in your day can be to your mental outlook. If you're feeling rushed, you can be annoyed and anxious the entire day. Taking time to appreciate little things like enjoying your coffee or tea, writing a letter or email, petting your dog or cat or listening to music in the morning can put you into a more positive mood and will help you enjoy your day more, even you're having to do something not particularly enjoyable. If you can enjoy the little rituals in your life, the big things will mean so much more. Your circumstances can change in the wink of an eye. Appreciate what you have and who is around you. If you lose them, you'll miss them more than you'll know.