“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela
My internet browser keeps trying to bait me to find out who I’m voting for 2024 election. It presents headlines from one side or another to see what I’ll click on.
From my point of view, I don’t want to click because I don’t want it to feed me what I want to hear. It’s not that I’m uninterested or uninformed. In these days before this hotly contested election, I’d love to have some certainty. But not at the price of wrong information and expectations that will lead to disappointment.
So instead I’ve made my list of the things I’m fairly certain will happen today:
The sun will rise and set.
That I’ll feel moments of awe, angst, and amusement.
Cooper the dog will put something in his mouth that he’s not supposed to.
And I’ll eat a little or a lot of Halloween candy.
Miss O and Mr. D will make me laugh
and some toys will be played with.
I will not make it through my to-do list.
But I will accomplish enough of my must-love list.
We’ll learn something, spill something, and read something.
One kid, or both, will anger the other and apologies will have to be made.
That amidst the rush and hustle of daily life with a nine-year-old and a five-year-old,
I’ll feel the overwhelming gratitude and love that I was able to choose to have this family
Using IVF.
And that’s why I never needed to open my browser to figure out which way to vote. I voted for Kamala Harris so that other families can choose, if they need to, to have days filled with the same types of certainties I’m likely to have today.
Surprised By Joy 