the best thing

My friend Elspeth lives on Trinidad's sister island, Tobago, and is a featured columnist for the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian, one of the national newspapers.  She also publishes her pieces on her blog, and yesterday I stumbled upon a very charming piece she wrote, entitled The Best Thing. 

In it she shares a story of running errands on an otherwise ordinary day, but taking the time to ask the people she encountered "What's the best thing that's happened to you so far, today?"  I'll let you read what happened, but for the most part, I was struck by two things:

a)  First, invariably, the answers she received were incredibly mundane. I found this so heartening -- that rather than responding, "nothing good has happened to me," each person was able to find something good in their lives, even if it seemed incredibly small.

b)  Secondly, it's almost impossible to hear that question -- what's the best thing that's happened to you so far, today? -- without reflecting on your own day, even if the question isn't directed to you.  When I read her piece yesterday, I stopped and thought a bit ... and the thing that first came to mind was the fact that I remembered to stop at the grocery store yesterday morning after dropping Alex to school, and I picked up some of Marcus' favourite coffee -- and then I came home and made myself a really delicious mug.  

That was an awesome thing that happened to me, yesterday.

And so today, I thought I'd pose the question to you directly:  What's the best thing that's happened to you so far, today?  If you're so moved, please leave your response in the comments.  And heck, let's make it fun:  if you do leave a comment, I'll pick one person at random, wherever the world you might be, to receive a signed copy of The Beauty of Different (inscribed to whomever you'd like), as well as a copy of my friend Hailey Bartholomew's book, 365 Gratefuls.

I can't wait to see what good has been happening for you today.

Update, January 10, 2014:

According to Random.org, the winner of the books is Jacqui, who said "The best thing that happened to me yesterday was creating a piece of art with people that I work with."  Congrats, Jacqui!  Look out for an email from me to get all your details.

And thanks to all of you for leaving comments -- that was so much fun, seeing what beautiful things were happening to you all around the world.  Have an amazing weekend, friends.