“I really love your baking sheets.”

These were the words my sister told me last fall as we scooped Brussels sprouts onto our plates.

I turned my head to the side as I looked at our old, stained cookie sheet.

“This one?” I asked as I tapped it with my fork.

“Yes. It’s such a nice size and weight.” She continued scooping, not even partially joking.

Being your 30s is funny like that. You notice the thickness of dishes and start to realize how fortunate you were that your parents took you on nice vacations and fed you and your siblings all those years. You notice paint colors and freshly cut grass. Front doors and crown molding. Your eyes are opened to the world of adulting.

The thing, though, is that sometimes we only see the things other people have. Their shiny floral dishes look so fun compared to our all white ones. Or, perhaps, their bright white walls and counters seem so clean compared to our granite and grey. It can be easy to notice the beauty others hold in their hands and, if we’re not careful, tempting to yearn for more.

I smile when I pull cookies out of the oven now. Sometimes I contemplate walking this wobbly baking sheet right over to her house. But, instead, I keep it and use it often. It serves as a token to remember to be grateful for what I have and to see the beauty in the little things around me. It reminds me to yearn less for what others have and, instead, appreciate the old, the new, the shiny, the rusty - and everything in between - that I already possess.

I know now that beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder, but also in the one who chooses to see it. May we all see the beauty, the love and the gratitude all around us today.