Going with the Flow
I was taking one of those facebook quiz things. It was supposed to tell you about your personality, based on your birth date. So here is what mine said,
"You're powerful, dominant and in-charge of most situations you encounter. You do command respect for your skills, but you can be a bit of a dictator. Hard working and serious, winning is a habit for you. You are accurate and precise - and expect the same from others."
As I was thinking about what it said, I realized that this goes along with my "life lesson" a bit. The problem is that I like to take complete charge of my life. That may not sound like a problem to some of you, but it is. You see- I know that I am not in complete control of my life. I am reminded of this time and time again.
Going with the flow is not easy for me to do. I am a planner and I love to be organized. And as many of you know, these attributes do not always go well with raising small children. Nothing ever seems to go as I plan. I think that this is a life lesson for me. It is something that I am continually battling.
I have been thinking about this the last couple of days. I had a plan for last week-we were getting back to business after a haphazard week with Ava having a fever/cold, and it went straight out the window when Ava started throwing up. Evidently, I haven't learned my lesson, because I spent the first half of the first day stewing over how I wasn't getting anything done that I had planned. But by the afternoon, I realized that I could either continue to stew about it, or I could LIVE IN THE MOMENT. This is the key people. This is what I am called to do that is sooooo very hard for me.
But guess what I did...did I start enjoying the time with my kids, when I have an excuse not to get anything done but play with them? Of course not... not right away at least. I sat there and made a plan in my head of all the things I was going to do with the kids the next day- to make the most of these sick days. I looked for crafts in magazines, pulled out some stuff I thought Ava might like to do.
And then I heard Ava, "Mom, can you play with me now? I really had fun playing with you earlier, can we do it again?" And I thought- wow, do I need a shrink. Here I am planning for fun with my kids, instead of just sitting down and actually having fun with my kids. I am happy to tell you, that I did just that, for the rest of the day. And I planned :), yes planned, to do the same thing the next couple of days, if I was to be so fortunate to have an excuse to veer from my plans.
We crafted princess crowns.
We read stories.
And we learned how things worked.
So, although we were not in the best health, and my house looked like a tornado, and John had to pick-up take-out every night last week, and my to-do list is currently circling the globe... we had a great couple of "sick" days. It was a good reminder for me to live in the moment. I'm sure this won't be the last reminder I get. And for the record- I am so thankful that my life has not always turned out the way that I planned. It turns out that I don't always know what's best for me... And whether it is for little things, like reminding me to enjoy these moments with my children; or big things, like finding my husband in my path... I am eternally grateful for the parts of my life that I have little to do with.
"You're powerful, dominant and in-charge of most situations you encounter. You do command respect for your skills, but you can be a bit of a dictator. Hard working and serious, winning is a habit for you. You are accurate and precise - and expect the same from others."
As I was thinking about what it said, I realized that this goes along with my "life lesson" a bit. The problem is that I like to take complete charge of my life. That may not sound like a problem to some of you, but it is. You see- I know that I am not in complete control of my life. I am reminded of this time and time again.
Going with the flow is not easy for me to do. I am a planner and I love to be organized. And as many of you know, these attributes do not always go well with raising small children. Nothing ever seems to go as I plan. I think that this is a life lesson for me. It is something that I am continually battling.
I have been thinking about this the last couple of days. I had a plan for last week-we were getting back to business after a haphazard week with Ava having a fever/cold, and it went straight out the window when Ava started throwing up. Evidently, I haven't learned my lesson, because I spent the first half of the first day stewing over how I wasn't getting anything done that I had planned. But by the afternoon, I realized that I could either continue to stew about it, or I could LIVE IN THE MOMENT. This is the key people. This is what I am called to do that is sooooo very hard for me.
But guess what I did...did I start enjoying the time with my kids, when I have an excuse not to get anything done but play with them? Of course not... not right away at least. I sat there and made a plan in my head of all the things I was going to do with the kids the next day- to make the most of these sick days. I looked for crafts in magazines, pulled out some stuff I thought Ava might like to do.
And then I heard Ava, "Mom, can you play with me now? I really had fun playing with you earlier, can we do it again?" And I thought- wow, do I need a shrink. Here I am planning for fun with my kids, instead of just sitting down and actually having fun with my kids. I am happy to tell you, that I did just that, for the rest of the day. And I planned :), yes planned, to do the same thing the next couple of days, if I was to be so fortunate to have an excuse to veer from my plans.
We crafted princess crowns.
We read stories.
And we learned how things worked.So, although we were not in the best health, and my house looked like a tornado, and John had to pick-up take-out every night last week, and my to-do list is currently circling the globe... we had a great couple of "sick" days. It was a good reminder for me to live in the moment. I'm sure this won't be the last reminder I get. And for the record- I am so thankful that my life has not always turned out the way that I planned. It turns out that I don't always know what's best for me... And whether it is for little things, like reminding me to enjoy these moments with my children; or big things, like finding my husband in my path... I am eternally grateful for the parts of my life that I have little to do with.
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