Beauty is in the eye of the beholder......

Beauty. When you hear the word what image comes to mind? Just now, this moment....as I type the word the image that comes to my mind is a huge old Oak tree in the middle of a valley surrounded by nothing but green. The wind passing gently through its branches as the tree sways to its own music. The sky above is painted with the brilliance that only a summer sunset can achieve. That's beauty. At least at this moment.
So often we become so caught up in our daily lives, the drama, the chaos and the neverending barrage of negativity from all corners that we forget to notice the beauty. We focus on who said what about whom, which child cheated ours out of his or her rightful victory, which bill might be paid late so we can afford the latest dental bill and why in the world the weather/our hair/our children/the traffic/the boss,etc can never seem to be just what WE want it to be to suit our needs. We bypass the beauty.
Yesterday,as I was hurrying from one errand to the next and grumbling secretly over the traffic in front of me, the gray skies and the lack of money in my pocket I was reminded of the beauty. Walking into the gas station it presented itself in one of my favorite scenes. A man clearly dressed in his business best, possibly late for his morning meeting or running behind in arriving at the office altogether was walking out of the station holding his coffee. And he was smiling. Not just smiling.....beaming. The object of his joy was his companion. Small in stature and young in age but enormous in obvious importance to this man. The little boy held his father's free hand and walked clumsily and slowly with his tiny feet, clearly slowing this man down. And he didn't care. He walked at his son's pace without rushing him, without barking orders and without speaking. But that smile said more than words could convey. This was joy. THIS was beauty.
Inside I was greeted with another example of beauty. In the back by the coffee machines I was treated to the exhuberant and joyous dance AND vocal perfomance of the woman waiting for her coffee to be brewed. She didn't care that the machine wasn't functioning properly according to the attendant. She didn't mind that she would need to wait 10-15 minutes for a new batch of her favorite brew. She was caught in the joy of the song.....and it was BEAUTY.
What BEAUTY have you passed by today? Did you miss it? Were you too busy or distracted to notice? Slow down. Enjoy it. And don't be surprised if it makes your day better without you noticing!