The Good Stuff: Clean Windows

If change happens gradually, we ease our way into it -- good or bad. I remember an ob/gyn doctor I used to see, who would praise me if I had lost a pound or my weight had stayed the same over the course of a year. I once asked him why he made such a big deal about a pound or two, and he said:

"Most of the women I see gain a pound or two every year. It's not a health risk at first, but after 20 years, it can be."

And that brings us to this sad, but true confession: Over the course of the past 30 years, the windows of our home had probably gained about 30 pounds of dirt and dust. I am not loved for my housekeeping skills. 

This week, we got new windows throughout! And this, my friends, is the good stuff. Clean windows. I can see through them, and the wind can't blow through them. There's no condensation from the cold. And, bonus! They open and close easily -- and can be cleaned from the inside.

I just need to remember to do that, at least once every 30 years.

Take a look around the room you're in, and consider:

• Is there something on display you don't really care about anymore?
• Is there something else you could put out that would bring you joy?
• Have the pictures on the wall been up so long you don't even see them?

Now, extend that fresh perspective. Take a good look at the people in your life. People change too -- at times, so gradually that we fail to see it, Or as Lillian Hellman once said, "People change, and forget to tell each other."

Change can be the good stuff. Share it.

This glider reminds me of being on
my grandmother's porch.
Memories. The good stuff.