Mayfield: Set aside today’s trifles and join me at the beach?

I was all riled up about a bureaucratic snafu I witnessed over the last few days. I sat down to write my commentary for the week and I was ready to really get into it — using this example as a way to expose broader frustrations we all deal with every day. I mentally laid out all the slights, outrages and easily undertaken solutions.

But then, I looked outside. I saw the glorious green trees, a brilliant blue sky and the warm, happy sun. I thought about the joy of walking our kids to the bus stop for their first day of school this week. I remembered our second grader’s questions about how fog forms and why the lawn is covered in dew. I took a deep breath and savored the clean air filling my lungs.

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My brain immediately forgot the small trifles and insignificant slights.

They don’t actually matter, do they?

Why not extend some grace to others? I can’t know their challenges or their obstacles, but I can actually choose to give the benefit of the doubt. I can decide to take a deep breath and focus on all the amazing things around me.

So that’s what I am doing. After school today, I’m taking the kids to the beach. We are going to swim out to the floating dock and jump off the high dive. We are going to put on our goggles and explore the bottom of the lake. I am going to lift them both, one at a time, high into the air and throw them off into the water as they shriek with laughter. We are going to swim back to the sandy beach where we are going to dig holes, make castles and lounge in the warm afternoon temperatures.

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Then we are going to go home and I’m going to let them decide what we have for dinner. Chicken nuggets? Sure. Macaroni and cheese? Why not. Let’s eat outside on the deck in the fading-yet-still-warm light. We can laugh and talk and just be together as a family in this amazing place where we are lucky enough to live.

Is there something bugging you today? Something stuck in your craw? Can it wait? Can you put it aside? Can you join me in looking out at all this gloriousness and choose to be here for that today instead?

I hope so. I truly hope so.

Travis Mayfield is a local media personality and fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio