The Mirror of Love

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“Spend time with people who are good for your mental health.” – unknown

This week I was up on a ladder trying to hang some extra Christmas lights when eight-year-old Miss O walked in the room and said with a laugh, “I don’t like this lip gloss. It’s all over my teeth. Want to come down and see?”

I launched into a laundry list of things on my to-do list that precluding me pausing to see lip gloss on teeth. She laughed again and repeated something I told her the other day when she was frustrated with her Xmas gift making. “You’re a Leon. We expect to get things done. We experience stress when that doesn’t happen as quickly as we’d like.”

Then she brought me a hand strengthener and a stress ball to take my frustrations out on.

Isn’t it funny that we need other people to repeat our own observations back to us? My on-going battle is that my ideas of what I can accomplish, and the time I have available, are forever mismatched. I’m aware of it and yet I’m still like a fly against the window, bumping against it over and over again. Every once in a while, I’ll have a miraculous day where I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do.

But mostly, I just spend a lot of time practicing letting go of the list to be present. My kids help me do that. A lot.

32 thoughts on “The Mirror of Love”

  7. “My on-going battle is that my ideas of what I can accomplish, and the time I have available, are forever mismatched.” I’ve become convinced that this is life’s challenge: Our expectations and the challenge to figure out how to let them go and be present! I know I stink at this. Ha, ha, so when you figure this out, please let the rest of us know. Ha, ha.

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    1. I don’t know, Brian, I’m not sure I’m going to figure it out. But why don’t you and Kath come here and Miss O and Mr. D can teach a class? Not sure we’ll get it but we’ll have fun doing it! 🙂 ❤

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  10. What a great word picture! (fly against the glass) I too have known those feelings..not quite as much as when the kids were little. But think of people on the other end of the spectrum ( tree sloth types.) I know a couple. I would rather be the fly that has to learn how to dial it back, than not have any fire.

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  12. That quote about spending time with folks who are good for your mental health resonated with me, Wynne. That is important for everyone to recognize. Be kind to yourself and try to stay away from those who might put you in a negative, frustrating mindset. And if you can’t keep them at bay, make sure you don’t adopt their moods as your own.

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  13. Kids are wonderful for helping us be present. I love it when the tidbits of wisdom we impart spontaneously flow from their young lips. And the number of times I’ve regretted taking a few minutes to pay attention to my son when I really wanted to get my list done was zero. He’s my favorite procrastination – even now that he’s 21.

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  14. I love when our kids echo our own words back at us! 😆 Those are wise words, Wynne. Good luck with getting everything done for the big day and enjoy this Christmas long weekend together! 💕🎄

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  15. Lol! Out kids do reflect stuff back to us when we’re not expecting it!

    As someone who struggled with a chronic illness, I learned that my list needed to be reshuffle according to my priorities, with the most important at the top. If I couldn’t get through all of them, I was less stressed because the least important ones were at the bottom!

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  17. Oh, that’s too funny, Wynne! Miss O is growing into one wise young woman. You must be proud…once you get over the frustration of hearing your own words echoed back lol! Merry Christmas, Wynne! 💕

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