I was completely exhausted from vacation last night to write, so I am catching up this morning. One lesson that I need to remember over and over is that simple is better. I always find myself over complicating things and then they never turn out how I want them to anyways. I get frustrated when I plan a big old fun day to find that the girls only wanted to play in the dirt. I ruin the memories because my ego has been bruised.
Lydia keeps teaching me this every single day. It is not about the toys, but the boxes they come in that are so much fun. It is not about the big vacation that we can go on, but about the number of outdoor play sets we can find to play on. I am still caught up in the dream life that we have to have bigger and more for it to be better.
Just getting back from vacation and I am learning this over again! I am drowning my sorrows of not being able to do this or that because a certain child does not travel well. I am grieving the fact that we may never get to do this or that. But what I am forgetting is the memories that we made. The fun that we had and the time that we were able to share...no matter what we were or were not able to do.
See Lydia nor the other girls really care what we do or where we go. We were able to stay in a motel. That means that they were able to watch TV (we don't have that at home) and make forts and it was a new place to explore. They were able to eat donuts for breakfast and snack all day long. It meant that we were able to go to places that we had not been to before and visit a good friend's shop. It meant that we were able to play on new playground equipment and go hiking through the woods. When asked what the best part of the trip was "It was just spending time with my family."
I get so caught up in the big and the better part of life and I miss out on the small moments. Bigger is not better. I don't know if the same goes for your family, but after what our family has been through, bigger is not better. Those nights of putting our Pj's on early and snuggling together on the couch to watch a movie, it is then that I see the biggest smiles on their faces.
Lydia reminds us over and over that she loves her home and she does much better at home than she does anywhere else. Our house is not big and it is not fancy, but it is safe and comfortable. It is what she knows as home. It does not have to be big or fancy but it does have to have her sisters there and her parents. It does have to be safe and comfortable, simple just as she knows it.
I am battling this lesson on so many levels, but when I learn, I will find joy and peace like all my girls have. They make the best out of any situation, they are content in the small things, and bigger is NOT better for them. See, to have the simple things around; love, family, friends, a feeling of security. I would have thought that I would have learned this after everything we have been through, but I battle this one. Simple is the best. Family means I am rich. Happiness is having that sense of security.
Once again I need to be reminded of this simple but profound lesson that less is more, simple is better and big is not always the best. Being together as a family, having each other's love and presence is the most important thing for them and us. Thank you Lydia for reminding me and I am sorry, but you are going to have to teach this one to me over and over again! One day, I hope, I will understand this critical lesson just as well as you do!
No comments:
Post a Comment