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Finding Happy

While sitting in the family room one evening I heard wails emanating from another part of the house. The crying got louder and louder as my littlest love came right up to me, staring at me intently as she approached. When I asked her what was the matter, she pointed to her leg and explained that she had hurt it while playing.

I picked her up, nestled her into my lap and gently kissed the back of her head. I inspected her leg, found no injury and assured her that everything was alright. Ever the centre of attention, my littlest love then continued to cry. After a while, I asked why she was still crying.

“My happy is broken” she lamented through tears.

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The Responsibility Equation

I had an epiphany the other day.

Over the last few years, I have made it a point to evaluate the beliefs that I held on the issue of personal boundaries. These were deep rooted beliefs that I have had for a very long time.

The funny thing about our beliefs is that, many times, we aren’t even aware that we have them. We see them not as concepts that can be challenged, but as indisputable facts of life. Facts that we think we have proven to ourselves over and over.

My beliefs about personal boundaries were no exception.

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Filtered Conversations

We recently got one of those water jugs that filters water from the tap into clean water for drinking. We drink a lot of water in our house. In fact, besides our morning coffee, we hardly drink anything but water throughout the day. We therefore need to refill the jug very often.

I love to drink ice-cold water. I find it most refreshing, especially in our tropical climate. Naturally, however, at the rate we refill the jug, the water is rarely left in the fridge long enough to get crisp and cold. Each time we refill the pitcher, the water from the tap slowly trickles in and any bit of cold liquid left behind is rendered completely lukewarm. It really isn’t a problem… but, as I said, I like my water cold.  I therefore find myself holding off on refilling the jug, even if there isn’t much water left, so that the remaining cold water can be enjoyed later.

My husband, on the other hand, refills the jug at every opportunity. Even if the jug was halfway full of ice-cold water, he would top it up after he poured his glass. I have often reached for a crisp quenching shortly after he was done and had to settle for a tepid glass of disappointment. The water may have been lukewarm, but, over time, it started to boil my blood.  

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What’s your word?

A few years ago, I sat on a quiet beach with my family on one of the last days of the year. As we discussed our resolutions for the upcoming year, my father-in-law explained that he didn’t make resolutions, rather, he chose a word – a single word that represented what he wanted to achieve in the months to come. I remember how I felt when I heard this approach. It resonated deeply with me. I didn’t have to think long or hard in order to come up with my word for the new year. That was easy.

I wanted peace.

I had been so anxious, depleted and overwhelmed for so long that all I craved moving forward was a sense of balance and calm.

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Hand Crafted

Last week, we decided to make some cookies. We pulled out the ingredients and the cookie cutters and we got to work.

As my little loves have gotten older, I have tried to step back a bit and to let them take the lead in these types of activities. I let them follow the recipe, add the ingredients to the bowl and mix everything together. My only involvement was to make sure that everything was mixed well and to roll out the cookie dough to the proper thickness so that the cookies wouldn’t fall apart when being transferred to the baking sheet.

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Little Hands. Big Lesson.

Today I did something that I’ve never done before.

I was wrapping a gift for my niece when my littlest love asked if she could help me. Without hesitation, I said yes. She immediately eyed the wrapping paper and started for the big scissors that I had on hand. Instead, I reached for the kiddie safety scissors and gave it to her. I watched on with a smile as she fumbled with the scissors before deciding that her right hand was best suited for the job. When she was ready, I showed her where to cut the wrapping paper and she got to work. Boy, did she cut! She cut and cut to her little heart’s content. She cut up, down and in every direction… except straight across, of course.

And, you know what? I let her.

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I’m fine…

I saw something on my morning drive the other day that I have never noticed before. I was at a red light and looked to my right. On a small concreted area on the grass stood a generator which had been installed in order to service the traffic lights when power is down. For security purposes, the generator is completely enclosed by iron bars.

Within the enclosure itself I saw a plant growing out of the cemented ground. I have no idea what type of plant it is, but it looks like it could grow into a big tree…but for its enclosure.

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