Rattled

I’ve got to be honest, waking up from a sound sleep to my entire house shaking— closet doors banging, deepest thunder sounding noise— left me rattled yesterday, long after the earthquake stopped. Really?? An earthquake on top of everything else right now? It was a 5.7, which is moderate in earthquake terms. Some buildings near the epicenter sustained much more damage, but luckily no one anywhere was too hurt from it and our house was just fine. But still. I put on my coziest sweats, crawled back in bed with my husband and we watched tv and ate comfort food. Our daughter came in at one point, surprised to see her normally busy parents being so lazy. We said she could be the grown up today, adulting was too much for us (which sent her into a fit of giggles. Thank goodness kids can be so resilient in the face of hardships… my kids all just went on with their day like usual). A large 4.9 aftershock in the afternoon (along with several other smaller ones), did little to calm my nerves and I found it hard to focus on anything all day. By late afternoon, I was feeling a little antsy so I volunteered to go to the store and get some essentials. On my way, a quiet thought popped in my head, “text your friends and see if you can get anything for them.” So I did. I reached out to a few different groups of friends and family and asked if they needed anything. I felt like Santa going through the store, getting their items and leaving them on their porches on my way home (thank you to everyone who let me, it did so much more for me than it probably did for you). It was a small thing, probably something the rest of you are already doing and even better, but it completely changed my day. I relearned this simple and powerful truth: helping others can help you when you feel helpless. 💛💛💛