Student:  Elizabeth Lahren, A00092341

March 5, 2008

My Beautiful Day 

My beautiful day begins outside.  The birds will be singing, the sun will be bright, the grass is growing and needs mowing.  The flower beds need weeding.  I’m sitting on my porch with my cup of tea, basking in the early morning sun. 

After breakfast I begin mowing the lawn.  This takes several hours.  I love the smell of freshly mowed grass.  It always brings back happy memories of growing up on the farm.   

My lunch is a ceremonial peanut butter and jelly sandwich with another cup of tea.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches represent my days of scouting out the woods with my black pony, Beauty.  He was fast.  We were brave, he and I.  We went out, deep into the woods, and rode down into the ravines and the creek.  When I determined that we were hungry, I would unpack our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and we would eat them.  One and a half for him, and half for me.

After lunch I attack the weeds in my flower beds.  The sun is still bright and warm as it seeps into my aching back.  Doug brings me a fresh cup of tea, and oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips, hot, fresh from the oven.  We sit down together on the rocks and enjoy the wonderfully delicious cookies.

After the flower beds are done, I decide to take Shadow, my horse, out for a stroll in the woods.  He is anxious to get out of the pasture for awhile.  The State Park is close by.  We walk through the woods with the small branches crunching under his feet.  We ride until we reach the Strait of Juan De Fuca, only a short distance into the woods.

As we reach home once again I dismount and brush him out after our ride.  He is tired and he relaxes under the bristles of the brush raking his huge body.  I give him grain to enjoy since he’s always such a “good boy”.  After brushing him out I return him to his pasture.  He races around the pasture with the other horse, suddenly not as tired as he made me believe he was.

My lawn is beautiful, the flower beds neat and tidy, the flowers are blooming, and evening is on the agenda.  Doug has made dinner.  We sit down to eat and then I take up one of my psychology books to read for the remainder of the evening.  The day has been full and good. 

Part One:  I was not successful in living this day yet.  I planned it but the weekend was too cold so I didn’t get to do it.  I would not change my perception of a beautiful day.  I have lived this day before and I know that it fills me with joy, satisfaction, optimism, and flow.  It’s a wonderful day and I always look forward to it once the warm Spring days come.

Part two: I try and live this day as often as I can.  This day fits in with my life’s goal because it’s good for my mind, soul and body.  The reading at the end of the day furthers my goal of school and learning more about people.  I’m learning why people think and act the way they do.  This helps me attain my future goal of helping people in a professional way, and helps to cease the pain from my past.