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Friday, June 1, 2012

From Ordinary To Extraordinary


Source: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/acknowledgement.php

Yesterday I woke up suddenly and instinctively bolted out of the bed howling like a demented banshee. I hobbled around the bedroom with arms flapping, wanting to put weight on my leg but unable to. I was in agony due to a God awful painful cramp. The muscle in my calf visibly contorted. After what seemed like forever the cramp began to ease and I was finally able to put weight on the leg. After very little debate I crawled back into bed, feeling very sorry for myself. I needed rest after my ordeal. When my head finally cleared of the pain fog, ‘Voice’ chimed up and informed me I was once again wasting good writing time. Disgruntled with‘Voice’ I fought the urge to hide from the day and dragged myself out of the bed and limped to my laptop. I managed to get 400 new words onto the page before breakfast. The abrupt manner of waking, was made more palatable by this accomplishment though my calf muscle was still tender and achy.

Why am I telling you this? Well my usual mindset to a day starting in this manner is, ‘batten the hatches’ and hide. This day despite the harrowing beginnings surprised me. It was a day sprinkled with unexpected compliments.

With the ache in my leg  easing and the manner of my wake up call becoming a distant memory, I enjoyed the walk to work. Listening to the birdsong, noting how there was still a slight chill in the air, yet feeling the heat in the sun and taking note of the natural beauty surrounding me. Maybe the day would prove more promising than first expected.

As I headed towards my office one of the custodians greeted me with  a cheery good morning. 'Mr. C' continued with, “Look at you. Always so nicely dressed. You are the best turned out woman in this building. Our very own fashioneasta.” My attempt to suppress a big grin from spreading across my face failed. I know, but I couldn’t help it. “Thank you Mr. C. You're very kind.” I relied beaming.

I have been never been referred to or thought of myself as a fashioneasta. I floated down the hall towards my office as if carried on a cloud. Needless to say the cramp was totally and completely forgotten.

My son’s car has taken ill, so he is using mine at the moment. At the end of my working day he collected me as I needed to make a quick trip to the shop. He stayed in the car while I did my few messages. As I waited for him to pull around in the car park, I was distracted by a man's voice. “A woman dressed like a woman. Thank you." he said. I looked around in a nosey parker sort of way to see who he was addressing. He pushed his trolley past me, turned his head in my direction and said, “Thank you for that, you’ve brightened my day.” I couldn't believe it, he was referring to me. For the second time in one day I beamed.

What was I wearing I hear you ask. Well that’s the thing, nothing special, a dress and cardigan. What I find amazing is how easily an ordinary day was transformed into an extraordinary day.

My calf muscle is all sore and achy again this morning. Correct….woken by another one of those God awful leg cramps. Yes, I still howled like a banshee, but when the howling turned to a whimper, instead of crawling back into the bed to hide, I delighted in the prospect of new day. Because today I plan to sprinkle a few beams and hopefully turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day for a stranger or two.

12 comments:

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I think I'll wear a dress and a cardy tomorrow. I could use a little boost. :)

Glad your day improved from the abrupt wake up...

D.J. Kirkby said...

Leg cramps are horrid, my husband suffers with these. I use the same technique I used to use with women in labour - point their toes towards their face to gently stretch the contorted muscle in the opposite direction and cut the cramp off. How lovely that you had so many compliments, I can see why you would feel all smiley.

Brigid O'Connor said...

That's so lovely, Ann. I love when that happens. I hope your leg cramps ease soon:)

walk2write said...

You know, I haven't been very forthcoming with compliments, at least not in person. It's easy to do on the blog but more difficult face to face for some reason.

I hope your leg cramps disappear. They're no fun when you're trying to bound out of bed, eager to get the day started.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ann, stopping over from Twitter to say hello and hope your leg cramp gets better!

MunirGhiasuddin said...

Please get that leg checked out.

nutschell said...

Oh I know exactly how that feels! that same thing happened to me a few weeks ago (and right before my belt test too). Hate when that happens! You need to drink lots, eat & drink lots of potassium bearing food (like bananas and coconut juice)& stretch,
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

MTeacress said...

I've heard about how aweful those leg cramps can be...I'll feel sorry for you too. I would get you a cup of peppermint tea if I were there, and if you would like it. ;)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Those leg cramps are aweful, truly aweful. Not a nice way to wake up but it's great the rest of the day turned out good.

Jackee said...

LOVE when ordinary days turn extraordinary. :o) Thanks for sharing. (And it might not help you, but bananas at bedtime help my leg cramsp. Just thought I'd pass it along. lol)

I've been gone from blogging from a while and I know you have too but I just wanted to tell you I've missed you! I'll see you on facebook! <3

Theresa Milstein said...

Cardigans work wonders, eh?

Oh, leg cramps are the WORST. I was prone to them in the middle of the night when I was pregnant with my son. Fun times...

See ya, fashionista!

LynNerdKelley said...

Oh, I hate those darn leg cramps. And I love it when an ordinary day turns into an extraordinary day because of small, delightful events! Nice post, Ann.