It's the Little Things

Lately things have been a bit crazy around here. Lots of work, little time and too many personal traumas all at once. I'm trying to cope, be productive and focus on the things I need to do. I won't go into too much personal detail but suffice it to say I'm a bit overwhelmed. There have been other such times, better or worse, as I'm experiencing now. I devised a strategy long ago to deal with the stress and it works more or less no matter what is going on. I'm not saying that you won't feel the pain of the problems, but should you follow this technique they will be much easier to deal with.

The first thing you must understand is there are some things you cannot change no matter how hard you try. If you say the Serenity prayer it fits in here nicely. This is the hardest thing for me partly because I'm a mom, and we fix things, right? Well we can't fix everything try as we might. Prioritizing the things you can deal with helps immensely. Focus on doing what you can to help the situation, devise a proposed plan for what you can do in the future and then you have to let the rest go. Not so easy, trust me I know, but it will help you keep your head above water no matter what the situation.

Here's a peek into recent events in my life. My dog has recently been diagnosed with incurable cancer. To say that we're devastated would be an understatement. She's been a constant source of joy and comfort to us for 8 years and I'm shattered to think of losing her. Okay, step one is knowing I can't change the outcome in the end. I've dealt with that temporarily and now, step two, I'm focusing on keeping her as healthy, happy and pain free as I can until it comes time to let her go. That could be in a few days or a few months depending on how fast the disease progresses.

Step three, letting the rest go is very difficult for me. It took my daughter telling me that it was depressing everyone else even more when I cried every time Madi did something cute that I knew I would only see maybe a few more times. Her exact words were, "Mom! Stop being such a buzz kill!" That kind of shocked me out of my daze. Now I stop myself from thinking about the end of all of this because until that time there's nothing else I can do but what I'm doing. I'm enjoying her company and spending more time with her, taking pictures and giving her treats. Making a few more memories to hold on to when she's gone.

Life's not fair sometimes, but all in all I believe it's the little things that count. The every day things that often get little notice. The smell of clean laundry, the warmth of a hug and the waggy tail and love from a cherished pet.