Category: sunshine

happiness, sunshine, travel, work, worry

Leap: If You Want to Find Meaning in Your Work, Find the Sun

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

I spent the weekend in Buffalo with two of my best girlfriends, Kelly and Alex. Kelly is getting married next Fall to a wonderful man and Alex and I are in the wedding. Alex and I made it to our flights home just in time as Hurricane Sandy approaches the Eastern seaboard.

On my Delta flight, I had the most delightful flight attendant. As we broke through the clouds, I commented that it had been at least a week since I’d seen sunny skies.

“That’s the greatest thing about my job,” said the attendant. “It’s always a sunny day at the office for at least part of the time.”

How many of us can say that? And how many of us would like to say that?

This year, following happiness and joy has been a good strategy for me. I don’t always know what lies around the bend with my newly designed career. Heck, sometimes I barely know what lies in wait for me in my morning inbox. I don’t worry though because I just keep following goodness, sunshine in some form or other, and so far it’s always been a good day in my (home) office.

family, happiness, harmony, sunshine, thankful, time

Step 202: Making Moments

Christa Avampato

Yesterday, the fam and I headed out to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. We splashed around in the salty surf, hung out on the sand in our sun dome – so much better than an umbrella, collected seashells, and looked for jellies washed in by the waves (my niece, Lorelei’s, favorite beach activity). Perfect temperatures, both air and water, made for a relaxing, care-free afternoon.

My sister, Weez, snapped pictures of us and as I looked at those photos I was reminded of how special days and moments like these will be treasured for many years to come. My nieces are growing fast. I imagined how we’d think about these days when the girls are older, how we’d long for these very moments as life trolls on. I was glad and grateful to appreciate them in real-time, for what they are now and what they will mean in the days ahead.

That awareness is something I’m working to harness. We have special moments all the time; we just don’t always know they were special until they’ve passed. I’d like to catch them by the tail as they whiz by, in the hopes that I can hang on to them for just a little bit longer.

The image above is a picture of New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

environment, happiness, outdoors, season, sunshine

Daylight Saving(s) (Ti)Me

Christa Avampato

I was giddy yesterday at 6:30pm. I have finally confirmed that yes, I have SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder. After months of cold temperatures, gusty winds, and a small amount of daylight hours, I begin to get into a funk that no amount of sitcoms or jokes from friends will shake. As my friend, Trevin, says, “After a while, it’s best to just hibernate as much as possible.”

All that changed on Sunday morning at 2am. Though I lost an hour of actual time, the increased daylight more than made up for it. I have nearly a full hour of daylight after I get home from work, rather than driving home in the dark. Yesterday, I ran to my apartment (literally), put on some comfy clothes, my sneakers, and ran back out to enjoy my “extra” sunshine. I couldn’t believe the difference it made. 
So while it’s been a long, cold winter that has allowed me time to reflect and contemplate where I am in life, I am thrilled that Spring is just over the horizon, along with the opportunity to change my contemplation into action.