“There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.”
― Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes
The reality of my day: It was one of those days where I was mentally poised to pound out some great writing, drive a new strategy for my business, and plan a really awesome dinner. My expectations were high for productivity. Less than 10 minutes into my day, though, began a plethora of interruptions, frustrations, and distractions purely from my family and household. There was a thread of needy beckons– “Mom! Mom? Mama. Mama. Mama. Mommy? MOM! Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.” ” Hey hon. how do I…?” “Hey hon? Where is the …?” “Hey hon do we have any…?” “Hey hon. What should we do…?” Bah. I am not going to lie. I was cranky, discouraged, annoyed and mad.
I was upset because I was getting “nothing” done… my expectations for the day were not getting accomplished. Honestly, being pissy was only making things worse; I needed to turn the day around. So, while sitting at a stoplight, trying not to be upset that I needed to pull over and help Sean–who had mysteriously gotten himself and his shirt tangled within his seat belt leaving him unbuckled and his arms awkwardly positioned above his head–I decided to list out things in the day that had made me smile AND take note of what would make me smile the rest of the day:
~Haley’s joy while eating a McDonald’s hashbrown (seriously, the kid was in heaven).
~ Reading through Sean’s Writer’s Workshop folder from school– he’s learning how to write and illustrate stories.
~ Listening to Haley sing the words to Britt Nicole’s “All this Time”– (the kid knows 90% of the words: Not kidding).
~ Watching Haley rehearse for her first dance performance; Watching Sean socialize with a girl while they were both waiting for their dancing siblings.
~Watching Haley and Sean play together like best friends.
~ Hearing both kids laugh at their own silliness.
~ Chatting with friends through out the day.
~ Hearing a random “Mom, I love you” from Sean.
~Watching Haley examine random things with a magnifying glass.
And these three moments:
Playing with the camera phone.
Fixing the truck
"20,000" -- That was her response when I asked what the measurement was.
These moments are my reality and I don’t see how my reality could be any better. So that leaves me to lower my expectations. I will get done what needs to get done when the time is right.
And hey… looky here! I did get some writing done; not the writing I expected but the writing that needed to be done.
