Carefree

By Liz Mugavero
Outside Hartford, Conn.

Following in the footsteps of my fellow blogmates, I’m choosing one word to reflect on this week: Carefree.

Gratitude, kindness and joy have gone before me on this blog. Equally important, I think, is being carefree. It’s not a typical word people reflect on when considering how to positively impact their lives. It never used to be one of mine. It’s one of those words people toss around sometimes without really understanding what it means.

Then I learned the right way to think about carefree: No matter what challenges you’re facing, nothing bothers you. It means going to that place in your mind where you’re above it all. Understanding that most things aren’t as important as we make them out to be in the big scheme of things. 

It sounds easy, until that first annoyance hits. The traffic jam before a meeting. Someone throwing you under the bus at the office (figuratively, of course). Or even more serious instances like a fender bender or an illness. Being carefree means to offer it all up to that higher power and believe better things are coming. Or just being thankful that you’re here today to have to deal with it in the first place – so it ties back to Barb’s word, gratitude.

I’m still a long way from being carefree. As I write this, I’m trying to ignore the nagging worry in the back of my mind about not being far enough along in my third book, and stamp out the cranky part of me who wants to complain about something a co-worker did. But I’m definitely better. Now, I know enough to remind myself to be carefree. It gets me out of the annoyance or disappointment or anger long enough to realize I’m being silly.

After all, I’m still here to have these problems. That’s what really matters.