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Flashback
By sandi | November 2, 2009
I generally don’t do flashback posts but I am making an exception this time. Last year on this date I posted this post. I still find it very poignant and I am still striving to accomplish this.
Learning to handle the many moods and activities of life requires solitude.
Do not let the demands of an overly active world rob your children of their peace.
Constant stimulation without balance of quietness creates chaos.
The child who early befriends solitude becomes one with all that is and inherits everything.First you must embrace solitude in your own life.
It is more difficult than you think.
Distractions are everywhere.
Even the mind is noisy.Give your children time to play without agenda, to read without purpose, to daydream without limits, and discover without fear.
Allow yourself the same.
This excerpt is from the book The Parent’s Tao Te Ching by William Martin.
I have been too wrapped up in things lately. I need to calm my mind more. I feel like I have forgotten how to relax and that is sad. I am so very busy with the demands of wife, mother and friend that I don’t take time for just me. I need to model this far more. I want my children to know how to give themselves down time.
For me this doesn’t mean I need to go to the spa or go shopping by myself those are things that would be nice but wouldn’t bring me solitude my life lacks. In fact those things would just bring one more rush to the already rushed life.
What does it mean to me? A year after my initial post I am still feeling frazzled and I am preoccupied with matters that don’t matter. This tells me I have yet to learn this lesson.
Is it this time of year? Yes, and no. I think that this time of year brings a slew of hurried activities and makes me crazy but I think I am like this all year. It is hard to quiet the mind. The 12 days between Annie and Kimberly’s birthday always take their toll. They are some of the most wonderful times, celebrating my two oldest children, but they are chaotic and crazy there is no way around them.
Since the Girls have entered school I have noticed each of them feeling more like they need me to entertain them. They are already losing that wandering spirit that their childhoods afforded them. 
They too will one day battle the balance much like I am. Hopefully I will have finally figured it out and can help them. 
Topics: Mom's Soap Box, Thoughts | 1 Comment »
November 4th, 2009 at 9:04 am
I can really relate to feeling frazzled a great deal of the time. I’ve been working consciously, especially after the awful summer we had, to find joy and peace, despite outward circumstances. I hope you are able to find the calm you desire.