And this year, Winnie the Pooh is celebrating 100 years! 🎉🐻🍯
What has always drawn me in to Winnie the Pooh is the way he deals with life stuff. He's always such a happy bear.
Not because everything around him is always perfect. Actually, if you think about it, Pooh and his friends deal with all kinds of things. They have misunderstandings. They worry. They get scared. They have bad days. They don't always see eye to eye. Sometimes they get themselves into situations that could have been avoided if they had just thought things through a little better. 😂
But somehow, Pooh always seems to find a way to enjoy the little things.
A pot of honey.
A walk through the Hundred Acre Wood.
A visit with a friend.
A little conversation with Christopher Robin.
A simple day that doesn't necessarily have anything extraordinary about it.
And maybe that's part of what I love about him.
Pooh reminds me that life doesn't have to be perfect to be good.
There is something about his innocent way of looking at the world that makes me slow down and appreciate things I might otherwise overlook.
We live in a world that seems to constantly tell us that we need more. More success. More money. More accomplishments. More stuff. More recognition. More followers. More everything.
Pooh seems perfectly content with a little honey and good friends.
There's something to be said for that.
One of the things I love most about the Winnie the Pooh stories is the friendships. Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Christopher Robin are all so different.
They don't always understand each other.
They don't always agree.
And they certainly don't always get along.
But they keep showing up for one another.
Isn't that what friendship is supposed to look like?
Sometimes you don't need someone to fix your problems. You just need someone to sit with you while you're going through them.
Sometimes you don't need an answer.
You just need a friend.
And I think Pooh understands that.
There is also something comforting about the way Pooh approaches the hard stuff. He doesn't pretend that difficult things don't exist. He just doesn't let them steal every bit of joy from life.
That is something I think we could all use a little more of.
Especially as I've gotten older, I've realized that life is full of things we can't control.
People get sick.
Plans change.
Our children grow up.
Things we thought would happen don't.
Things we never expected happen.
Sometimes we find ourselves walking through seasons we would have never chosen for ourselves.
And yet, there can still be joy in the middle of it.
There can still be laughter.
There can still be friendship.
There can still be beautiful little moments tucked into an ordinary day.
And for me, that's one of the reasons Winnie the Pooh has remained such a favorite.
He reminds me to slow down.
To appreciate the simple things.
To love my people.
To laugh when I can.
To be there for my friends.
And to not take life quite so seriously all the time.
Of course, as a Christian, I know that my ultimate hope, peace and joy don't come from a fictional bear in the Hundred Acre Wood. They come from Jesus.
But I also believe God can use the simplest things to remind us of something important.
Sometimes a little honey-loving bear can remind us to appreciate the life God has given us.
So here's to 100 years of Winnie the Pooh! 🐻🍯
Thank you for all the smiles, the laughter, the friendships, and the little reminders that sometimes the simplest things in life are the things that matter most.
And if you ever find me choosing between a fancy night out and sitting somewhere cozy with a good book, a cup of coffee, and maybe a little Winnie the Pooh nearby...
Well...
Oh, bother. 😉
I'll probably choose Pooh. ❤️🐻🍯
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