In a lifetime not too long ago I muttered these words to anyone who would listen, “Don’t ever take a boring life for granted.” The meaning behind those words was this idea of don’t ever take the good times for granted; when your family is healthy, when you have enough to meet all of your needs financially, when you and your spouse are in a sweet spot and clicking on all levels, when your kids are emotionally happy and stable – don’t take these times for granted because you never know when life might flip you upside down. Last night I had a reality check as my husband turned to me and said, “You seem down lately and stressed, do you need a break?” I, of course, got defensive and said, “What are you talking about, I feel fine.” To which he replied, “You’re just short and don’t seem to have a lot of patience lately.” The irony of that statement hit me in the face seeing that this is the “most wonderful time of the year” or at least it’s supposed to be, right? I thought on this for a few minutes and decided, I do have this undercurrent of stress and anger right now, what is it about? I have felt pulled in every direction as I struggle to maintain a large house, 4 loads of laundry a day, feeding a family of nine day in and day out, maintaining 5 kids school schedules and that includes what needs to be bought for whose holiday party, how much money each child needs sent for hot lunch, the Christmas drive next Tuesday, the diaper drive at church, this kid’s teacher’s birthday on the 15th and of course Christmas presents for family, extended family, other extended family, bus drivers, teachers, students, friends, and neighbors. On top of it all I’ve felt a lack of any sort of personal time with the holidays approaching and all of my coveted “me” time going to shopping for gifts, making Christmas cards, finding recipes, figuring out a theme for the tree this year (yes, a theme, and wrapping so many presents for so many people. I miss reading and I miss writing, and I miss taking a bath just for the sake of relaxation. But in saying all of this, is this an excuse to be crabby and short with my family? They are all healthy, thank you Lord, we are financially stable, my husband and I are in that sweet spot, still, (love that man) and the kids are all doing so remarkably well, not even with common catch phrase attached to them – “considering what they’ve been through in life,” – they are all just doing remarkably well as kids! I am blessed to be a part of a great community, a great church, and a great school district. Yes, there’s a TON of laundry, yes, the house is never clean and never will be with so many kids, and yes, I will probably miss an obligation or two at school, but life is good. This life is not boring in the sense that we never have anything going on, but it is boring in the sense that there are no life or death decisions sitting at our doorstep and when I stop and reprioritize my thought process, I do have so much to be thankful for during this holiday season. I admonish everyone, the stay at home moms going through the same route motions day in and day out without any sort of appreciation, or the working moms going through the work week grind and coming home exhausted and unfilled, or the young married couple or the retired couple, whoever you may be at whatever stage of life you’re in, if you are living a boring life in terms of not having any major life decisions thrown your way, thank the Lord for boring lives during this season of thanksgiving, and when you are finished thanking him for that, reach out of your comfort zone and seek out someone who could use a helping hand because of their lack of boring in this season of life due to some unforeseen circumstance thrown their way. In the meantime, Just keep livin, you never know when your boring will be thrown in the blink of an eye and you’ll be back to wishing for the route mundane you once upon a time took for granted. Oh, and yes, I will be taking that break very soon that my husband suggested I take.
Dear JessLove it. A timely reminder!!Happy Thanksgiving, and a happy break to restore you and relax you,Ali in Switzerland
Thank you Ali! As always you are so kind and uplifting. I wish you a blessed season as well!Jess
Just what I need to hear! Thanks again for speaking to me! I love you blog! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your sweet family.