Life is sweet

Lately I've been feeling overwhelmed.  It's been a big transition having my two sons in high school this year.  They both have SO much going on with copious amounts of schoolwork, sports and other activities, volunteer and church commitments, and very full social lives.  We always seem to be running, running, running.  And I always seem to be worrying, worrying, worrying.  It's all relative, of course.  I have three children.  My own parents had seven.  I met a man last weekend who grew up in a family of seventeen children.  Seventeen children, people!  Can you imagine?  I can't - it's inconceivable.  Yes, my busyness and my anxiety are relative.  But that doesn't mean they aren't real.  The way I feel is real.  Every generation has their own challenges.  Every individual has their own darkness and light.  It doesn't help to discount any person's feelings or struggles.  However, it is true that my problems are very much first world problems.  For me, personally, gratitude and perspective are the tools that help me deal with my worries.  I'm pretty sure most of us need doses of intentional gratitude and perspective from time to time.  This morning, it was some pink-frosted chocolate cupcakes that jolted me with perspective and gratitude.  Because the more I thought about those pretty little cupcakes, the more I thought about all the beauty and goodness in my life. 

I thought about an e-mail that arrived this morning from a friend who noticed that I have talked about being overwhelmed lately and wondered if there was anything she could do to help.  Then I thought about how another friend noticed that my running shoes had holes in them.  She gave me the gift of store vouchers and cash, which enabled me to buy a new pair of shoes.  Another friend magically always finds me exactly the things I need -  an outfit for a special event, a winter jacket for my daughter, and much more than I can say here.  Yesterday, I sat at the park with two other beautiful friends.  We shared our joys and challenges.  We listened to each other, we heard each other.  This morning I noticed a chocolate bar in the cabinet.  My husband often buys me a bar of European chocolate and sneaks it into the cabinet when he wants to cheer me.  And also, this morning - those pretty little cupcakes.  As I was busy doing some volunteer work on the computer - my daughter frosted those cupcakes.  Life is sweet.

I am blessed and fortunate.  I have a house, clothing, food, access to healthcare and education or educational resources, three healthy and happy children, a good husband, caring and compassionate family and friends.  I am loved, and I love.  Life is sweet, people, life is sweet.