Next week, my oldest will start his Senior year of high school. I can remember his first day of Kinder…heck, I can remember bringing him home from the hospital! It seems like just yesterday that he was born, all 5 lbs 12 oz's of him! I remember the first night home, sitting on the bed and crying. Hubby asked me what was wrong, was I in pain. I told him I was crying because we would only have our son for eighteen years, then he'd be off to college, joining the workforce, and getting married! Hubby started laughing. I told him it wasn't fair, that my grandparents had been married for fifty years, 50! Our son would grow up and leave us after 18 years, he'd marry someone and that lucky girl could quite possibly have him for 50 years!! It wasn't fair!! Granted, I'm quite sure hormones had something to do with my sobbing spell…but I was right. And here we are, our son is about to begin his Senior year of high school and will be turning 18 soon…time flies. (Hope he never finds out I posted his Cub Scout photo here!)
We all know that time flies by, yet, so many of us try to "rush" it along…why do we do that? I can remember when our little one was a baby, it took him forever to learn how to hold his own bottle. I would sit there, feeding him, wishing, hoping, he would hold his own bottle. He did finally learn to hold it on his own, and you know what? I missed feeding him, holding his bottle for him. We all do it, not just moms.
I can remember being a kid. What does every kid want to be, more than anything else in the world?! A grown-up! I remember being in the 5th grade, all the other girls had training bras…so, of course, I wanted one too. (Even though I had nothing to "train" LOL!) My mom asked me if I was going to wear it or just put it in my drawer, she did not want to waste the money on it if I was not going to wear it. She told me I did not need it, I could get one next year…but I was determined. She finally gave in and bought me my training bra. I was so excited, I was now going to be a "grown-up, " I thought I would become a woman the moment I put that bra on. But you know what? I didn't, and that bra was so itchy, I thought I'd never get use to wearing it! LOL! But I had wanted it so badly, I wanted to be grown-up. I was in a big hurry to grow up! I was trying to rush life along.
Seems we are never satisfied with where we are in life. We want the kids to be "older" so we can do more things, go more places. We want them to grow up, be independent, life will be "better" or "more fun" when the kids are grown and out of the house. When the mortgage is paid off, then we can take that trip we've been putting off. When we lose weight, then life will be a blast. When we get that promotion, life will really be good then, and on & on & on.
The truth is, life is good NOW! Right now! Every day that you wake up, is a great day. Every single morning that we are able to get up out of bed and walk into the kitchen for that bowl of cereal is a blessing! Don't wait for the kids to get older, or for that promotion, before you start living life. Enjoy where you are right now, enjoy this moment you have been given, make the most of it. Every day is a gift, treat it as such.
Life is not perfect, no one ever said it would be. Don't waste another day trying to rush life along, waiting for everything to be perfect … that day will never come. Life is not something waiting for you down the road, in your future, life is HERE & NOW! Don't rush it along, it does that on it's own.
I remember being with my grandfather one year on his birthday. We were in the living room and my grandmother brought out a home-made, Coconut Cream Pie, topped with lit birthday candles. We sang happy birthday to him and he blew out the candles. She then took the pie back to the kitchen to cut it up and serve to us. My grandfather looked at me and said, " You know, the older I get, the quicker time seems to be passing by. Seems like I blow out the candles on one cake and when I turn around, your Maw-Maw's standing there with another birthday cake!" He then laughed and just shook his head. I have never forgotten those words. As I get older, I see what he was talking about. It's so true.
Please don't try to rush life along, don't wait to enjoy life. Do everything you want to do right now, while you still can. Make memories with your children. Once they are grown and out of the house, it's too late. I don't want to be sitting in my rocking chair with a bunch of regrets, and I don't think you want that either.
I love life! Let's embrace it…live in the moment!
Never stop using your Mommy Powers,
MP
