My husband frequents the flower display at Costco. 

Most days, there are some sort of flowers displayed in a vase on my kitchen counter or breakfast nook table: lush roses or a mixed variety of blooms or the occasional exuberant collection of sunflowers. On the one hand, there’s nothing fancy about a Costco buy-them-in-bulk bouquet, right? But it’s true that it’s the thought that counts. The arrival of flowers are so expected that when my youngest daughter was a toddler, we would head toward the checkout lane in Costco and she would want to pick a bouquet of flowers for me “like Daddy does.” 

My husband’s actions changed our family’s perspective. Those flower on display aren’t just flowers — they are the flowers my husband buys me on a weekly basis because he knows his action makes me feel loved. Now, just strolling by the display during an I-just-need-a-few-things Costco run makes me smile because I think of my husband. 

Perspective — what you are looking for — changes things. It changes you and your relationships.

Sometimes one of the bouquets my husband brings home for me is a dud. It doesn’t bloom, the buds wilting, the petals falling off. But does that change why he gave me flowers? Not at all. I look past the less than perfect flowers and see the giver. The intent. And the bouquet is still beautiful.

In Your Words: How do you look for the good things in life: beauty, kindness, hope?