Connie's Cup of Joy: Quarantined Day 24 Simplicity

"Let's look back and take pride on how we responded to this challenge."

- Queen Elizabeth

Many times, I tend to overthink things. Ok, all the time. I have friends that I know are in my life to simplify my complex mind and keep me focused on a clear cut direction, when I let them. I can name at least five of them right off the top of my head and can't imagine how even more complex my mind would be without them. My mind is a very, very busy place, and many of you who know me know exactly what I mean. My life, is full, but my mind, now that's just busy. Big difference.

We are now 24 days into our mandated, worldwide, quarantined life. My family kicked off our Monday and did our virtual life as usual; work meetings, work, school work, soccer, dog for a walk, tackled chores, well, a couple of us did, watched a movie together, painted the windows with our new window chalk markers and had breakfast, lunch, dinner and baked. Nothing exciting, but grateful for every little bit of it. Oh, the smell of gas and the furnace man, all is fine, but that's another story.

So the baking.... chocolate chip cookies should be pretty simple. Oh no, no, no. There is a lot more to such a "simple" little cookie! This past summer my girls and I wanted to make the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie.

We recorded about 15 different chocolate chip cookie experiments. For example; when you melt the butter, when you don't, when you refrigerate it, when you let it sit out. When you add less sugar and more brown sugar, when you use more baking power than baking soda thinking it will rise or be chewier. When you leave them on the pan out of the oven for 2 minutes versus 5, when you butter the pan or put foil, THEN butter the pan. Oh yeah, you name it, we experimented with it and thinking we had it to a perfect science. Until months later and it was day 1 of quarantine, we baked a batch, even doubled it being that confident, and I'm pretty certain someone in this house switched the salt and sugar on us because it's probably the worse batch I've ever tasted, and I take full responsibility for it.

So here we are today, baking chocolate chip cookies. Mia quick whips up her peanut butter batch, simple, easy, came out perfect, dishes cleaned and she's done (simple like her daddy). I look up "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" thinking I'll just scratch off all our experimental cookie history and pretend it never happened. I toss in the butter (as is, letting it soften itself while turning in the mixer), both sugars, vanilla, eggs, baking soda, flour and of course the chocolate chips. Done, scooped them up with the girls help. I followed the time exactly of 10 minutes at 350 degrees, let them sit on the pan for 3 minutes out of the oven and there we are a perfect, professional tasting, and photo finished cookie! Simple, not over thinking one bit of the recipe. So where am I going with this?

Here we are with a life in full reset at home while watching on the news of the war going on with this virus that feels as if no end. The medical staff at the front lines risking their own lives along with truck drivers and food store employees and postal workers and many more essential workers doing their best to stay safe and keep their families safe all while taking the chance of getting the virus themselves. We watch the news of people dying and see the daily reports wondering are we coming close to finding the cure. We watch the scary world from inside our homes looking out our heart colored windows. We fill our life with the true reality and can only help by staying home to avoid getting the virus or finding other ways to somehow help the outside world.

Simple Rules; Wash hands, wear face masks, stay safe, and stay home to keep from spreading or getting the virus. Slow the curve of the number of people filling up thousands of hospital beds. Sounds like our simple daily routine while growing up; wash hands, say your prayers, make your bed. Mia laughed the other day while washing her hands and said, "We had lessons on how to properly wash our hands every year up until 3rd grade. We all thought it was silly, now everyone even adults are relearning it!"

Simple little rules that make the biggest different each day. As little a task as making your bed will make the difference in our daily lives...if you want to know the power behind making your bed, check out this amazing and 'well worth the watch' clip below.

Graduation Commencement Speech

by William McRaven, US Navy Admiral

"If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."

(Again, I digress but it's worth the watch)... so....

We complicate our lives with spreadsheets and tight schedules, etc. Trying to make life as perfect and as flawless as possible and loosing ourselves within the mist of all of it, forgetting who we really are. Looking at life right at this moment, what does matter the most now that the world has stopped for us? Our sense of priorities was lost because we never prioritized, we just filled our lives with doing everything we can, all the time and squeezing every bit of it in, for what? Well, why not, right? It was the quantity of our life, not the quality. What we have, how much we have, who we know, how we know, what we drive, where we work. Everyone is on the same playing fields "resetting" now.

Here's my point,
when we all look back at this we want to make it worth it.

We want to look back and say, YES, I did stay home as requested, YES, I did help in this way, or YES, I did help that way, or YES I did recoup and realized I needed to slow down or maybe even YES, I did learn to get moving more and pick up the pace. Whatever is fit for you and your heart, what will you look back on when you think of this time and what will you remember the most, what was learned from this moment of history in your very own household? A TV show or certain Netflix series absolutely does NOT count all you cool cats and kittens!

Here is something, (besides the Chocolate Chip Recipe that I'll share below) that my friend Kathy, shared with me and it stuck, so I want to share it with you.

Each day, focus on your HAPPY (5 letters, 5 things):

1. Brain, what did you do for your own brain health today? Maximus & I are Wordscape Champs
2. Heart, what did you do for your heart health today? I made it a daily goal to walk/ jog 3 miles.
3. Yourself, what are you doing for your own happiness? I write this blog. I journal.
4. Others, what do you do for others? I pray, everyday, for all those listed on our Dibbs17 Page that are on the front lines and I baked my people cookies today, so that counts too!
5. Gratitude, what are you thankful for and JOURNAL it! One thing you are grateful for today; my healthy family.

I added the last one! Feeling gratitude towards something or someone fills my own heart. So I feel having gratitude each day, definitely completes your HAPPY! This is important to know, because many of us may feel guilty or depressed or alone during this time. All feelings that are ok to feel, but not ok to feed and focus on. The people that are risking their lives for us, would NOT want us to feel that way. So yes, #5 is write something you feel grateful about and choose to feel good about it. Choose your HAPPY.

When looking at my best days and how I felt even before the quarantine, it was because I put prayer first and my body second; keeping healthy and eating right. Everything after that fell into place because I had His direction and stayed obedient to it. Until, I got a little lost going in every direction with no direction pleasing everyone else but me. It happens, its ok, I learn and move forward.

Don't overthink and waste your time overthinking. I laugh when my friends and I share the honest truth of waking up, thinking about all the things we have to do that day, feeling overwhelmed before we even start it because we don't know where to start, so we chuck it all and don't get any of it done! What?! That sure sounds crazy, right?!!

Lets trust the message, look back at our quarantined life and see how God has worked through us; living our best each day the best we could, while taking care of ourselves and doing right by others. Keep it simple, keep it HAPPY.