Ahhh…the sweet smell of fall.
It’s still too early for bonfires and chili, but today I wore boots for the first time, and I saw a couple of people at church sporting flannel shirts. Maybe the summer heat was extra oppressive this year, but I always welcome the change in season, whether it’s summer to fall, fall to winter, winter to spring, or spring to summer.
They don’t call Atlanta HOTlanta for nothing We’ve been slogging through 90 degree days since the beginning of June. Four months of HOT-HOT-HOT can make people pretty grouchy. Everybody’s complaining about something, and nobody wants to do anything.
But yesterday was different. Yesterday the temp dropped, a breeze moved in, and suddenly everyone was outside waving to one another and talking about how excited they are to be in this new season.
And the best part was that the grocery store had stocked up on my favorite food of the season….
Hello…Mallomars!
(You thought I was going to say Pumpkin Spice, didn’t you? Puh-LEEZ! As if I would pair something from the squash family with my morning coffee!)
So I shouldn’t have been surprised when a friend stopped me in the parking lot and rolled down her window: “Got my Mallomars!” she called. “Can’t wait to try one!”
Another friend saw me in the cookie aisle: “You didn’t take all the Mallomars did you? Hope you saved some for the rest of us!”
I have a bit of a reputation around here.
That first bite of Mallomar is oh-so-delicioso.
Mallomars are my thing, but you probably have your own thing, those special somethings that put you smack dab in the middle of what has the potential to jump start an inspired life:
A clean house
Fresh sheets
A haircut
A new toothbrush
A sandwich that somebody else makesA towel hot from the dryer
Isn’t the world a lovely place?
All these things signal the senses and make you go “Ahhh….” They seem so small, so insignificant, and yet…
They wake you up.
They make you pause and say thank you.
The word that comes to mind for me is JOY.
Each of those tiny things—the haircut, the toothbrush, the sandwich—are gifts we don’t take for granted. We notice, and our day becomes a little brighter.
What is it that wakes you up? The thing that makes you inhale deeply so you can savor it just a little bit longer?
“INSPIRATION
the drawing in of breath; inhalation.”
But inspiration is more than just the act of breathing.
“INSPIRATION
a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea”
I’m pretty passionate about Mallomars.
They make me so happy.
I want everyday to feel like that.
Like I’m biting into a Mallomar for the very first time.
Can a Mallomar really be the key to an inspired life?
I don’t know.
But I do know that when we fill our lives with more of the things that bring us joy we become happier, healthier, more generous people. We become participants rather than observers of life. We reveal the best of who we are. And that’s not only good for us, but for the people around us as well.
Breathe in. Breathe out. And let the inspiration take you to new places.