Contentment & Quiet Appreciation
By day four, the Bronto Brothers were starting to think CALM Week might actually teach them something. Then the school counselor announced the day’s theme: contentment. The band paused. Contentment sounded simple, but nobody was sure how to practice it, especially Tim, who had never sat still long enough to figure out what it even felt like.
The activity was called Quiet Appreciation Time. Everyone had to sit, rest their wings or claws, and notice something they liked about the moment they were in. No fidgeting. No pacing. No hovering.
Tim blinked hard at the last rule.
He tried sitting on a cushion, folding his wings neatly behind him, and keeping his body grounded. His toes curled. His feathers twitched. His wings lifted an inch before he reminded himself to lower them again. Rex gave him a thumbs-up from across the circle. Groovy whispered that he was doing great.
The counselor asked everyone to notice one thing that made the moment good. Tim looked around the room, trying to let his eyes settle on something without darting all over the place. He saw his friends breathing steadily, and he realized it felt nice to be surrounded by calm bodies, even if his own was ready to sail into the sky.
So he inhaled slowly and let his wings relax. He listened to the soft hum of the heater and the quiet that came when nobody needed anything from him. For the first time that week, Tim felt a warm, gentle comfort settle over him. It was small, but it was real, and it surprised him enough that he forgot about flying for almost a full minute.
When the activity ended, Tim slowly stood up, smiling at the counselor. He said he felt like he had taken a tiny vacation without leaving the room, which made Axe laugh and call it the most Tim thing he could have said.
And so Tim learned that contentment is not something you chase, but something that finds you when you finally let yourself rest.
🪷 Read All CALM Mini-Series Episodes
Episode 1: Present Centered Awareness
Episode 2: Mindful Breathing
Episode 3: All About Balance
Episode 4: Contentment – Coming Dec. 10.
Episode 5: Reflection – Coming Dec. 17.
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