Have you seen this post making the rounds? At first glance it could easily be written off as one of those easier-said-than-done, lofty, self-improvement posts that only make you feel worse about yourself, but then you hit number 13 and think, “This was written by a human with real emotions,” and then you read something like this article on aging parents and you consider the space you are occupying between having survived the heady, ignorant decade of your twenties and peeking toward your 40s, when your kids (or the kids) are moving ever more colorfully and dynamically toward autonomy and you are settling into a place that is neither young nor old, a middleness to fight, blend into or what?
How do you really want to spend your time? Do you want to be angry and walking with clenched fists and a chip? Do you want to be living in fear of what’s to come and resentment of what has already passed? Or maybe, just maybe do you want to try and apply some measure of wisdom from things like the Purpose Fairy and begin to reclaim your moments? Sunday Sean, the girls and I did a little reclaiming. We’d spent an ambitious Saturday working out, visiting the market and exploring the lake and islands. Sunday morning we didn’t go to the school to do the Fun Run. We didn’t dash to the lake. We didn’t do project after project.
We hooked up a sprinkler.
We had a tea party.
We rolled around on the grass with our dog.
We napped.
We made dinner together.
We danced.
We talked.
We remembered.
We dreamed.
We forgave.
We let go.
And then we found ourselves with more space in our arms to embrace all that it is we have.
Choices. Love. Friendship. Family. Support.
Sweet, precious time.
How are you spending yours?
Tagged: backyard, daughters, family, forgiveness, life
You are lovely. This is wonderful. You know how sometimes you read something or see something and think “Well, that’s 10 minutes I’ll never get back.”? This is not one of those times. Thanks again for your lovely words, Amanda. I’ll never tire of reading your thoughts.
So beautiful. Last night was one of those moments for me…filled with dinner, homework, even a dr appt. But then after baths and showers, we turned on music and had a dance party. I had this moment when i thought, this is all so perfect. Its sooo not perfect but then again, it is.
What a great post. Isn’t it funny how we sometimes stumble on things when we need it the most? The past few weeks, the angst I carry has just been ready to boil over…I’ve been walking around with that heavy feeling in my chest and feeling like the rug is about to be pulled out from under me. And in response, I’ve felt my need to control and criticize and blame heighten, and to adopt a “woe is me, the world is conspiring against me attitude.” The article you linked to (and your post) stopped me in my tracks. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The bottom line of what I took from this is that I need to let go, and I need to breathe, I need to enjoy what is in front of me (namely my husband who takes such good care of us and my hilarious 2-year-old) and I need to just be.