Keep your eyes open - there could be a big bone in the soup aisle!

Really, there could be a large dog bone in the soup aisle!

I was shopping Sunday night; not having too much fun, not making the mundane very zen-like the way I read I'm supposed to and not really doing a very good job of checking things off of my list.  It was one of those shopping trips where your mind is all over the place - it would be great to get in, get out and show up at home with the ingredients for five healthful dinners.  It wasn't turning out to be such a trip.  I had a list that was a bit discombobulated, I was pre-occupied with the 'to-dos' of the coming week and I wasn't being very logical about the task at hand.  It would be perfectly accurate to say that I was not in an 'intentional' state.

I moved along, and the only thing I do remember being aware of was that embarrassing feeling of seeing the same family on each turn to a new aisle - apparently we were shopping at the same pace but in opposite directions.  I remember them, but that's all I remember.

And then, poof!  I was awakened!  I began rolling my eyes along the lower area of the soup section, though I don't believe soup was on the list. I sort of noticed that the 'low sodium' Progresso was just about gone and then I saw IT!  A LARGE BONE WAS IN THE SOUP AISLE!  I loved it!  It made me laugh!  It woke me up!  It made me wonder, "Why would someone stash a large bone in the Progresso row?

I shared one of those smiles inside, that only I see, and enjoyed the secret laugh about the large bone.  I giggled to myself as I stooped oddly to take a photo and saw the elderly man wondering what was wrong with me.  I imagined him going home, and just before Wheel of Fortune, telling his wife about the sad lady in the funny black pants who was taking pictures of the lower shelf in the soup aisle.  It put a fun spin on the ordinary shopping trip!

My trip took on a new face, and I began to make conscious decisions.  I opted to quickly get the few items on the list and then get out of there!  I didn't want to spend my Sunday night ambling around the store, just waiting to see what I came upon in the Ingle's.  I remember being sure of that.

The 'bone in the soup aisle' has had me thinking, thinking about the many times I must be 'asleep' in life. I wonder how many occasions I muddle through, barely aware, not being in charge of my actions.  I wonder how often I miss out on being awake.

I'm thankful for the crazy big ole' bone in the soup aisle and for the way it woke me up.  I love that our eyes can see the out of ordinary in the midst of the mundane.  I'm glad that someone stuck the big bone in that spot, glad that it made me laugh and delighted that it served as a wake-up call.

Sometimes I need that.  I  suppose you might, too.  I'm keeping my eyes open today - who knows what I might see.  It probably won't be another bone, but maybe it will be something hilarious or touching or loud or soft or kind that wakes me up, makes me pay attention.

Here's to wake up calls in the soup aisle.