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My Thing-a-Ma-Jig

I have one of these novelty thing-a-ma-jig toys on my desk that is filled with clear liquid. When you flip it, blue and green colored streams from the top trickle slowly down to the bottom in a process that produces pretty relaxing bubbles throughout. It is an appreciated gift from a co-worker, something I wouldn’t have thought to buy on my own, yet it brings me a few moments of daily joy.


This amuses me occasionally when I am in need of a distraction during my workday or I need to fidget or am just absentmindedly losing focus on a mundane project. I also add it to my lunchtime meditation routine on the days when I stay in my office. The green bubbles make me think about the fresh opportunities, choices, experiences that are mine to embrace all the time. The cooling blue reminds me of all of my chances to take a few minutes out of my life here and there to notice and contemplate them. When they land at the bottom they combine into this fantastic blend of ingredients that I have come to know as my happy life.


It took some practice for me to recognize the simple perfection of myself this way. Once upon a time self doubt, indecision, negativity, inadequacy, victimization, etc. were all a part of my self-inflicted world. They were the solids that landed upon and crushed me. The right people, outlook and powers that be helped me climb out of the rubble, introducing me to the ebb and flow. Liquid is so much easier and pleasant to navigate, especially when you learn the tricks to stay above the water.


I have developed this habit of flipping the thing-a-ma-jig when shutting down my computer and leaving work every day like I’m signing out. It readies me for the evening, calling me to have some fun there, too. Enjoy whatever I’m doing, whomever I’m dining with, be thankful for the abundance of food, look up at the stars and hope to see the moon. If it’s cloudy, so what. They’re still there.


As I inspect the thing-a-ma-jig while writing this, I notice there is a label on one end that says “Warm and Fuzzy Toy” in tiny letters. I believe that’s the name of the company, but it suits me. Simple things for simple minds as they say.   So I flip it one more time and it makes smile again. When the joy arrives, I am reminded of a true pay-it-forward story a co-worker told me earlier in the day. Her son was having breakfast at a diner with a couple of his fraternity brothers over the holidays.   A man at the table next to them laid a $100 bill on their table as he left, telling them to enjoy their breakfast. Stunned, they in turn paid for their breakfast and for the family’s at the next table. Then they left the generous balance to the waitress.


I like my thing-a-ma-jig. Simply wonderful.

capture life writing

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