Simple life | love within a bigger perspective

The kids and I sat at the table for dinner while hubby was busily preparing the drinks for us.

He poured the juice into four glasses, took two of them, walked towards the table, and he put the fist glass in front of me.  The second was for Eric, and the third and fourth for Daisy and himself.

He did all these in a natural and smooth way, and always in the sames sequence, although I only noticed it recently.  Sometimes the kids shouted loudly for drink upon hubby walking toward the table, but he still pass the first drink in front of me.

This is one of the smallest details of our daily life.  From it, I appreciate hubby's care and thought for our family.  He puts me on higher priority, he shows respect on me, and he is using all these little details to set examples for our kids.  Being unconsciously influenced, the kids will learn to respect parents, and later on, they'll also show respect to their life partners.

Upon introspection, I seldom pay attention to such details.  In fact, whenever I pass drinks at meal, I pass to the kids first.  The kids weigh too much on my mind and I always put kids on the highest priority, sometimes I even neglect my husband's feelings without knowing.  Hubby loves the kids too, but he loves within a bigger perspective and with a bigger heart, which I shall learn from him.

Simple life | Chew slowly

(This photo was from internet)

My husband likes to eat all kinds of nuts.  When he eats, he chews slowly.  He explains that nuts are too hard to digest.   It is essential to chew slowly and smash it evenly before swollow.  This way helps stomach  absorb the nutrition. 

I totally agree with him.  However, with a quick temper, I'm always  in a state of rushing for time and hardly have enough patience to eat slowly.  Usually i can easily beat my husband at 3:1, which means i can finish 3 peanuts while he barely swallow the first one.

On the recent trip to Las Vegas, we ate peanuts as snacks on the road.  This time my husband was driving and i had no excuse of rushing, so i follow suit my husband's way and chew the peanuts slowly.  To my pleasant surprise, i had a whole new experience of this chewing practice, besides what my husband has explained above regarding the benefit of nutrition absorption.

Put a peanut in the mouth, gently touch it with your tough and taste its rich flavor, crunch it with your teeth and hear the crouchy sound, use you tough to feel the whole peanut turning into small pieces and then into fine particles; swallow it slowly and make sure all the particles going down in the right direction. 

With this practice, i was focusing on the moment of present and totally be mindful of the eating process. The process calmed me down and empty my noisy brain.  A peaceful mind rested in my body.  I felt relaxing while automatically pulling myself together. It's a new wonderful experience.