Bucket Fillers

Happy Sunday, Journeyer!

I’m preparing this post from the passenger seat of our very loyal minivan! Yes, we’re on the road, again.

Like my mother’s father, I give all of my vehicles a name, usually some form of Bessie, which is what I remember my grandfather calling his prized pickup.

Our Bessie, a 2004 Chrysler Town & Country, started the morning with more than 223,600 miles under her belt! She’s been such a good car for us, carrying us safely to points all across the country and into parts of Canada.

Knowing we can rely on our vehicle, given the amount of travel we do, definitely fills our happy, as I’m sure it does yours!

Speaking of filling things, I keep thinking about the last school I presented the#BestTeachersGifts school supply basket to, and their “Have you filled a buckettoday?” school-wide campaign.

“Bucket fillers put kindness and goodness into someone’s bucket,” the principal told me, “while bucket tippers say or do hurtful things.”

We can all identify the two types of people among our circle of friends and acquaintances, can’t we?

A Journeyer recently shared with me some of her personal challenges with people who treat her insensitively… I’ll be writing a future post on the subject but I really want to ponder the best, most sensitive and appropriate way to write the story.

But for now, might I simply share a bit of insight; it’s an important message that relates to all of us, regardless of age or social status: I am deserving of the same virtues, respect, considerations, and grace I give to others.

We tend to forget that, don’t we, Journeyer? Especially we women who are givers.

Not only can we apply those to types, bucket fillers and bucket tippers to people around us, we can also apply those identities to life’s events.

Every day we encounter little and big experiences, some that bring us down and others that lift us up.

This weekly column is a gentle reminder for all of us, and a deliberate choice on my part to give the good things their due, for that is how we achieve lasting happiness, by paying homage to the pleasurable moments that appear on our paths.

The self-proclaimed “biggest Santa of them all,” filling Christmas stockings fills my happy bucket, and I can attest that my joy container was as full as the six over-sized socks I stuffed in the wee hours of Christmas morning.

You might not believe one of the other ways I filled my happy last week. I chose to set aside several things that were causing me a great deal of angst. There are a few people whose packages sit unwrapped and un-shipped, and once again I chose not to send Christmas cards or worry that family photos aren’t being distributed for yet another year… I think the pictures on everyone’s refrigerators and mantles are about nine years old…

When my children were young, I was diligent about writing on every school and sports photos; I printed hundreds of images from our cameras and wrote on each of them before inserting each into customized Christmas letter I designed to look like a newspaper. But one year the stamped and custom-labeled envelopes sat unsent until March. Postage rates had gone up, so I bought extra stamps, made summer labels that I added to the bottom of the envelope and popped them into the mail, a bit embarrassed and ashamed and worried that the recipients would think I’d lost my mind.

Guess what happened? I received several phone calls and two handwritten letters from people I rarely heard from. My late arrival gift appeared when its beneficiary wasn’t overwhelmed with all sorts of holiday hullabaloo, at a time when each could sit and savor the moment.

That memory is a big part of my arsenal, Journeyer, a tale that reminds me of the clear separation between have to and want to and the many merits that come with doing something because it makes you feel good…

Speaking of feeling good, other events that filled my happy last week included these special moments…

 Christmas festivities...

Family, fun, and laughter...

This trivia game proved to be tons of fun!

I find pleasure during our fishing excursions by watching my family enjoy themselves and by breathing in the beautifully natural and artistic scenery all around me...

And then there was this little bit of fun we found when we went out to lunch one day... Even Chinese legend believes that Warren and I are a match meant to be... 

How about you, Journeyer? What moment(s) filled your happy organ last week? Share a time or two here and help spread a little joy!

Until we meet again,

Yours in hope, healing, and happiness,

     ~AE

            Soon…