Am I Missing Something?

For the past 4 weeks, I have been courted to take on a project, and yesterday, when I officially and firmly declined the offer, I was specifically told that I was missing a big opportunity for myself. There was a day that statement would have given me great pause. That day is no longer here.

I spent the vast majority of this morning's run thinking through how annoying it was to be told how I'd missed out on an opportunity (as though I'd not spent a great deal of time weighing it, praying over it, etc.). sigh. I also couldn't help but think about how my definition of a "missed opportunity" has evolved. In fact, my personal missed opportunity today would have been staying in bed longer rather than getting up and running my goal distance. And, by missing that, I would have missed this:

Okay, I totally get that this is a weed and everyone has seen them,
but SO PRETTY! I had to bring one along with me.

And, I would have missed these:

Just when I thought all penny hopes were gone for the day, BAM
miles 5 and 6.5 gave me the good stuff!

(Although, just when I thought I was in the clear on seeing road
kill, that opportunity suddenly presented itself ... taking the good
with the bad there!)

By the way, my water bottle pocket is way bigger than the one
in my shorty pants ... just sayin' ...

And, while I wouldn't have missed this because I would have gotten it anyway, it was still nice to come home to:

Those are some of the things by which I measure the worth of my time anymore. I like finding pennies. I like finding new purple weed flowers. I like coming home to Aaron asking me how things went and being excited for my findings. I like that Pit Crew #3 happily interrupted his video game to bring me a water bottle. I like that Pit Crew #2 gives me outstretched-lip-because-I-smell kisses after a run. And, I really like accomplishing something that I used to not be able to (not even close!). So, thank you, but I don't think I'm missing out on a darned thing ...