Bottle it.

The no-reason proclamation of love from your child:

“You know what Mama…?”  

“What?”

Bottle it.

The feeling you have when you leave a dinner or conversation with someone that you reallyconnect with on your human experience. You get them. They get you. They still love you ;)

Bottle it.

Your first glimpse of clearing from some very dark days…a compass in the middle of the forest.

Bottle it.

The feel, the smell, the sound of your warm sleeping children nestled into you…elbows in your side, feet in your face, and all. 

Bottle it.

The feeling of accomplishment – big or small. When you’ve worked hard at something and now you’re standing back looking at it with your arms crossed and head cocked…with a smile. And you did it. 

Bottle it. 

The rush you get when a stranger goes above and beyond to demonstrate an act of kindness – as simple as it may be. An opened door when your arms are all full of ‘kid’, a warm lingering smile from creased wise eyes, a genuine compliment paid.  

Bottle it. 

Those brief moments when you aren’t beating yourself up about perceived ‘shortcomings’ and you secretly admire something within yourself. 

Bottle it. 

Watching your children grow, make a new friend, find confidence in themselves, use big words, tell jokes, and demonstrate kind qualities toward others that you’ve worked hard to pass along to them. 

Bottle it. 

The feeling you get when you realize that your friend is a FRIEND. They know you to the guts and you are ok with that. They would defend you to the death (or at least in a girl fight) and you find comfort in that. They can anticipate your thoughts, finish your sentences, and would give you a piggyback through your personal mud puddles.

Bottle it.  

Seeing that half-swallowed smirk/smile when your child experiences pride. 

Bottle it. 

The reaction you get from giving someone you love a gift that you’ve made or carefully sought out, that is so unexpected, so totally uniquely ‘them’ and it makes them glow. 

Bottle it. 

The tug you feel within from moments of restored faith in humanity – the pictures or stories shared where the ‘underdog’ is actually the ‘hero’ and where we are humbled by the lesson. 

Bottle it. 

Spending the day with your jaw hanging open at Junk Bonanza with your junk-loving mother and best-friend sister (too specific?). 

Bottle it. 

If only we could keep a stash of these bottles on us, like in a peddler’s trench coat, accessible in a moment’s notice. We could flash open our panels, twist one open, inhale its contents, and get a fix of ‘life’ that could fight off any challenger that may have come our way.