Taking the time to breathe it all in
Jan 4, 2014
Well, a new year has begun. Most people would say that this is the time for self-reflection and goal-setting. But I have to say that after many years of failed and forgotten resolutions, I now know that bucket lists are not for me. I feel like I have just been setting myself up for failure year after year by trying to change myself in impossible ways.
This year however, it happened that my entire family came to stay with us for the holidays which kind of gave me a break from all things internet and social media. I got to spend a lot of time away from my computer, and that meant spending more quality time with my kids away from home. And although I do make it a point to spend as much quality time with my kids every day, be it reading, or on the floor playing, or doing nothing at all but doing it together, but spending that much more was really, really nice. And taking a break from whatever it is that you do on a daily basis just gives you time to observe more carefully and reflect more deeply. Having had the chance to do just that over the last two weeks allowed me to see how fast my kids are growing, how beautifully they’re growing, and how much I am enjoying watching them grow. I also realized however that much too often, I allow myself to drown in the mindless things we have to do every day, and in the stress and the worry and the negativity that all seem to get worse day after day until we finally explode, most likely hurting someone’s feelings in the process, only to make the same mistake again, and again, and again.
I don’t believe in resolutions, but I do believe in self-assessment and self-improvement, two things that should not happen yearly but much more often than that. I realize what I’ve been doing, and I realize how miserable it has made me. I also realize that I am one of the luckiest people on the face of this planet. I married a man I love to death, and I am the mother of two phenomenal children. All that needs to be done now is stop once in a while to breathe it all in. And that’s what I’ll be working on as of now, not in celebration of the New Year, but in celebration of my life and all the things I have been blessed with. I watched a movie yesterday called About Time
, and it kept me up all night thinking about the way we live, or rather fail to really live. It’s basically about a family in which the men have the power to travel back in time. One can only imagine how the men in the movie use their powers, meddling with certain life events to either relive them or get a second chance to improve the outcome. At the end of the movie, it is said that the secret to happiness is to live every day as you normally would, going about the things you have to do, and then living them again, but this time, taking the time to notice the details and enjoy them. We all have the power to live every day as if we had lived them once before and make an effort to live them better.
On a final note, I just want to state something that is obvious to everyone: Kids grow up so fast. Yes, the statement is obvious, but I’m not sure how many of us truly appreciate the truth behind it. Watching my four-year-old, I feel as though he grew into a little man overnight. He does things and says things that are just so incredibly mind-blowing, and if I were to try and write them all down in a journal, I couldn’t keep up. I don’t want to miss out on any of it.
And now, putting all resolutions and promises and lists aside, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year!