CFC BLOG #129: Anti Pet Peeving: Pleasant Surprises (Part 2)
So there were so many anti-pet peeves that I received from contributors in the community that I put them together into a second list! It is here below. For anybody else that I missed that would also like to share an anti-pet peeve, feel free to send it along to me (amandaposaj@gmail.com). I love putting these awesome lists together!
Quick reminder in case you're unsure/forgot: An anti pet peeve is the exact opposite of a pet peeve. So instead of focusing on the little annoyances, an anti pet peeve shifts focus to the small pleasures and surprises that bring us enormous joy. :)
- Amanda
Anti Pet Peeving: Pleasant Surprises (Part 2)
Every now and then, I get held up in traffic approaching the railway station for a train. Most of the time I have allowed for this, and I just get on the next train and still make my appointment. But sometimes I don’t have that luxury. So when I get to the station and find that my train was delayed just long enough for me to make it — even though I shouldn’t have — that’s a wonderful feeling. -- JP Rangaswami
The joy I get with a text from a friend sharing how they had an interaction with one of my children and how much they like them. This has happened a number times this past week regarding each of my children from various people. It warms my heart to know my kids are doing kind things when I am “not looking”! It is nice to have friends that take the time to reach out and share. -- Pamela Sherman
Getting an unexpected airline upgrade at the airport. Or a hot donut when you aren't expecting one (because it's non fattening). Or a pillow at a hotel that allows me sleep all night without waking up. -- Nooruddin (Rudy) Karsan
When Pip (a not-cat person) has a moment nuzzling and whispering appreciation to our cat, Ali G...and come to think if it, anytime I think of Ali G’s name and remember when our then-teenaged boys named her. -- Kelly Coburn
Waking up each morning to my dog licking my face wanting me to get up to play with him. -- Landon Eckhardt
One of my favorites is happening upon an unknown word, perfectly employed—"esemplastic imagination”—or a coinage that mints new meaning—the “bewilderness” in Ursula Le Guin’s edition of the Tao Te Ching or my husband’s fond term for me, “maladextrous,” (the correct term is “ambisinister,” not to be too "sesquipedalian" about it, which is an over-long and tedious word to describe those given to using over-long and tedious words when a single syllable would do). -- Polly LaBarre
When your kids say “I love you” first -- Suzi Chun-Turley
Making slime, the moment the body hits a warm bath, and surprisingly coming across a blanket of ferns while hiking -- Shaiza Rizavi
One of my favorites is the surprise home-made meal…. When I’m coming home after a long trip, and it’s right around dinner time, and I get home and not only has my wife made the decision about dinner, but it’s ready to eat as I walk in the door. Opening up to that smell is the best. -- Rob Rose
When strangers kindly acknowledge you when you walk by each other -- Chad Nussbaum
Living in Central London, cycling is my main form of transport and I love it, even in bad weather. Right now, in late Spring, with so many flowers out, there is nothing more delightful than pedaling past a great hanging Wisteria, or a bed of hyacinths - and being hit by their scent for a full five seconds of sensual joy. -- Willie Ward
Many highly educated people find simple manual tasks boring and frustrating, but I often love them: the sense of achievement is massive. Whether peeling a mound of potatoes, topping and tailing a pile of string beans, or ironing a mountain of shirts, it's when you reach the halfway point that you realize that you're on the home stretch, and the task seems to complete itself, such is one's pleasure in accomplishing it -- Willie Ward
The French have a great expression for this: "le cheval sent l'écurie" - when the horse (being ridden home on a long, tiring ride) senses he/she is nearing their stables, it gallops the final stretch with renewed vigour. -- Willie Ward
Seeing kids enthusiastically engaged in some form of “unorganized” sport- pick-up basketball, soccer at a picnic, foursquare on the schoolyard. -- JB Taylor
When I meet someone and discover that, even though we’ve walked different paths, we share overlapping core beliefs that mean there are interesting ways we could work together. -- Sasha Dichter
Found a year-long missing favorite sock when the weather changed and I pulled out a summer tank top and found it stuck to the back! :) -- Jaime Posa
Our recycling is only picked up every other Thursday. This means we forget all the time if it’s recycling week or not, and we don’t put it on our calendar, for some reason. On top of that, if it’s a holiday week, all recycling gets pushed back one day and picked up on Friday, so while you THINK it’s every other Thursday, it’s sometimes on Friday, which messes up your confidence that you guessed correct. But SOMETIMES (!) my neighbors all get theirs out before me and I can see the bins lined up and know it’s recycling day! I love those days, as I know that I’ve got the right day, or at least that if I’m wrong, we are all wrong. This Thursday is recycling day….I think….. -- Tim Vogt
When I remember to have my one antioxidant a day. Or when someone surprises me with a delicious lunch from the Mumbai Market -- Alison Posa
One of my anti pet peeves is biking home, when it starts raining - which briefly annoys me.. until i realize i can just bike, enjoy the rain, get wet, and once home I can take an enjoyable warm bath and feel like I had a full spa experience -- Matthias Hollwich
At the supermarket check out and the person in front of you hands you at coupon for $5 -- Priscilla Monteiro