Scott took Noah on a wonderful father/son trip to Boston for the weekend, which left Oaks and I home for a little mother/son staycation of our own. Due to the rain, Frisco Football League cancelled practice Friday night, so we opted for plan B. We drove over to one of Oakley’s new favorite spots, In-N-Out Burger to fill our bellies “animal style”.
On our way home we saw some friends at the park and stopped to play.
I chatted with my friend Sharon while we watched the sky fill with stunning colors of pink, orange, blue and purple. It was like watching a beautiful work of art being created before our eyes. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, all happening so quickly. It was simply magnificent. But as we were leaving, the sky began to act very strange.
I knew in my gut this was the beginning of a storm.
The boys wanted to ride bikes, so we obliged. But by the time the got to our house, the sky was beginning to get dark, wind had picked up and sand from the constructions sites was blowing all over the road. The beautiful pink and purple hues were turning gray and black. So everyone turned back to head for their own houses. In a matter of less than 20 minutes, the scene outside went from some sort of fairytale land, to a bit of a frightening storm blowing in.
That’s Texas for you.
But it’s also real life. One minute it might seem like everything is going so well it could be a fairytale and the next, it might take a frightening turn. But here’s what I know:
You have to enjoy the moments anyway.
Even if you feel in your gut that there’s probably a storm on the horizon. Don’t let the knowledge that the storm may come, keep you from enjoying what is, in this present moment. Let yourself experience the joy fully anyway. Don’t try to protect yourself by worrying that the other shoe is going to drop. It might, and that’s okay.
I love Brené Brown’s wisdom on this subject:
“Truly joyful people do not allow fear to take away from fully experiencing joy. They don’t say, ‘That’s a shudder of terror about feeling joyful. I’m going to dress-rehearse tragedy.’ They say, ‘I’m going to practice gratitude… Gratitude is a practice. It is tangible.’”
Don’t dress-rehearse tragedy.
Don’t let the fear of tomorrow rob you of the joy you can experience today.
Embrace joy, despite fear.
to more love,
Crystal
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