Motherhood is hard. Wait, LIFE is hard. But the best part is we’re all in it together. Join me as we find our zen in the middle of parenthood, marriage, extended family, volunteering, and just generally enjoying our time here in Lake County.
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Creating my Own Zen: Turn Busy into Blessings
Let’s not use the word busy anymore. Everywhere I turn, that’s the answer to every question.
How are you doing? Busy!
How was your weekend? Busy.
Recapping the day during family dinner, How was your day? Busy.
When can we get together for lunch, I miss you. I’m so busy, let me check my calendar.
We are all busy. And we definitely don’t need to one-up each other to try and determine who is busier than the other. That’s a debate no one wins.
I’m going to replace the word “busy” with the phrase “my life is full of blessings.”
Because it’s all those blessings that make me feel busy, my day usually goes something like this. I wake up early and go for a run with girlfriends on too little sleep. I get my two beautiful, healthy children ready for school. I take the rescue puppy for a quick walk around the neighborhood. Then I’ll grab something healthy to eat out of the refrigerator for breakfast and feed my children. After I get out of a nice hot shower full of clean water, I drive my children to a wonderful school in a safe automobile for which I can afford gasoline.
On my commute to work, I listen to some fun songs or a book on OverDrive. I spend my workday in a nice, safe environment with kind people and work for a fair wage. Sometimes I take a lunch break with friends, and sometimes I work through lunch so I can skip out a little early and head to a kids sporting event–which I adore watching, and they love to play. I am on the board for the community baseball league, so I volunteer when I am there. While the children are warming up, I snap a few photos, catch up on social media or visit with friends who have children playing that evening as well. My husband will join us in the second or third inning after he rushes from serving the community as a teacher and a coach. If I can stay awake after the baseball game, I go home and read a few pages of a book or catch up on some DVR with my husband on our comfortable couch.
So yes, my day is busy. But I wouldn’t change a thing. I am so grateful for each and every minute, even though I’m busy my life is full of blessings. I’d like to think I can cut out all excess and all non-enjoyable things in my day. Of course, I still have to mow the lawn, wash dishes, and do laundry, which no one really enjoys. However, for the most part, my life IS full of blessings. So the busyness isn’t really a bad thing, but I do think the word busy has gotten a negative rap.
I don’t have a disability, but when I broke my elbow last summer, it was significantly harder to do things with one arm. It was a good reminder that there is NO excuse for me not to help others, do dishes, drive carpool, fold laundry, or mow the lawn. I could still do all these things with a broken elbow, but I was much more tired, and it took me a longer amount of time. I’m thankful for my healthy body, and the chance to be busy have a life full of blessings.
This world is full of wonderful opportunities. So go out and seize the day–carpe diem, but keep in mind that you are filling your life with blessings. My advice for you is, if you feel busy and don’t think it’s a blessing, try to be a problem-solver and find a way not to do it anymore.
Are you busy, or are you filling your life with blessings?
Cheryl is an aspiring writer from Mundelein. You can now follow her on her author journey on Amazon.
Get a copy of her first book, Letter’s to my Children, available on Kindle now.
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