Lesson #4......and Thanksgiving

Life Lesson #4 (it's been a while since I posted #3, hasn't it?). Hmmm, maybe I'm actually listing to lesson #3 about being one person, huh? Can only get so much done.

Anyway, back to Lesson #4.

I love my family.

Yes, that's it. That's the lesson. What? Crazy lady didn't already KNOW she loved her family? Well of course I did, silly.

But hear me out.

I love my family. True, honest-to-goodness, wholeheartedly love them.
The whole kit and kaboodle: husband and children.

I need to show it in more ways.
We say plenty of "I love you's" around here. More than most people, I'd wager.
We hug. We hold hands. We mean it - really we do.
But I remember reading once that different personality types actually perceive love through different actions and give love in different methods.
I say it. I fuss over those I love. I worry. I fret. I tend to them. I cook, create, prepare things, do things with love that I think they will perceive as love.
I realize now, they may not.
Oh I have no question that my family knows I love them. But I want to reach outside my comfort zone and do things differently to strengthen those bonds....especially with my boys.
I want them to think back with love & fond memories on their childhood vs. thinking "Mom was always worrying & fussing over us".
So my lesson for today is: I love my family and I want to savor every moment with them and show them my love in a million ways, but especially in the ways that will mean the most to them.

I suppose Thanksgiving brought this all on.
And coming to the close of a year of particular growth and challenge.
Time goes too fast. I don't want regrets...especially where it comes to my family

Lesson #3

Lesson #3

I am only one person. Period.

I cannot be all things to all people.

Something has got to go. I cannot maintain sanity & continue trying to meet all the expectations (including mine).

I am only one person. End of story.

Lesson #2...

Life Lesson #2

Stuff is not love.
Stuff is just stuff.
That "to-die-for" new comforter, bowl, Very Bradley purse, sweater, bracelet, etc. is not going to fill the hole you have inside.
Only love can do that.
"Stuff" blocks the hole from being filled.....it's not even a band-aid, it's like putting mayonnaise on a cut. Sure, it might keep the dirt out of the cut for a little while, but it's not going to heal it & most likely you are going to get an infection on top of it.

Stuff is not love.
Stuff is just....stuff.

A part of me does miss the days when I felt free to buy what I wanted when I wanted it. But to be honest, being on a tight financial leash "frees" me in other ways. It frees me from the clutches of "stuff".
I have to really, REALLY want, need & justify buying "stuff" since money is so tight.
I have to justify....do I need that enough to give up something else?
And "what" else am I going to give up?

Stuff is not love.
Stuff is just stuff.