"Don't Be So Focused on What You Think You Want That You Can't Be Something Else."

A snapshot from our morning: Ben doing artwork and sidekick Lucy wanting in on the action. This picture makes me smile because it reminds me that it's the simple things that fashion a life and bring me joy. Lucy with her funny smile, Ben and his passion for creating (whether pictures or objects with his Legos), how they tease each other yet still enjoy each other's company, cozying up and reading books, going to storytime at the library, getting groceries at Aldi and our tradition of cracking open a box of animal crackers as we cruise the aisles, playing Uno Attack with Ben, Lucy's excitement to see Ben's bus pull up when we pick him up from kindergarten, and the list goes on. I was reminded of a valuable lesson yesterday during my MWP interview with Sherry Young. She spoke of feeling lonely and overwhelmed when she moved across the country with four active children under the age of eight and a husband with a very demanding work schedule. I asked what advice she would give women in the trenches of young motherhood and her words really resonated: To gear down and fill each day with joy, realizing that while it sometimes seems interminable, this phase won't last forever. Amidst "the cookie crumbs and diapers," she and her kids "baked alot of cookies, listened to stories, and played lots of music." From someone who (according to my mother), is happiest when I'm so busy I'm "running around like my hair's on fire," and didn't realize that I was a chronic Type-A personality until my mother-in-law kindly and humorously pointed it out early in my marriage, this was much needed wisdom. In the desire to control our lives, sometimes by relinquishing a modicum of control we can discover unknown interests and talents and ultimately find the security, fulfillment, and opportunities that we crave.