The Dance of Life

Today I am grateful for Darcy's safe travels home from a business trip and for some time for the two of us to catch up and converse. I am also grateful for perspective and reflection.

I am ever the reflective one. There was much laughter and fun this weekend, but there was also discussion of difficult times, aging, life's challenges. None of us has remained unscathed by life.

Sheila's brother died at 47 on New Year's Eve. Beth's dad died a few weeks later on January 24, my son's 11th birthday. We have lost parents, in-laws, our youth. Cancer has directly and indirectly impacted our group. Our children have had challenges and scares. But yet the dance of life continues.

Our children are growing up and a few in the group are already empty nesters. At 11, I can't believe how quickly Sam's childhood is going. I am both excited and concerned for his teen years. If he and his friends end up doing some of the things my friends and I did in high school, I will be even more worried. We partied. We drank alcohol. We stayed out late and drove too fast. We didn't always make good, healthy decisions. That goes with the territory of teendom I know, but this mom hopes her son makes better choices than she did. I know one thing: I will be paying closer attention than my parents did. That sounds critical, but the reality is they had too many to keep track of and by the time I was a teen, at child #11, they were probably exhausted from worrying about my older siblings. I will never know how many nights they laid awake waiting for everyone to get home.

Speaking of that dance of life, one of the reasons Sheila couldn't join us was her own daughter's dance competition. She was where she needed to be. Life is about such priorities.

What am I doing today to keep the dance of life going? It starts with gratitude for me. When I approach life with appreciation, I see the blessings, I feel the unconditional love, and I want to contribute, I want to serve and share. I want to help others find what is worth dancing over.

The dance of life. Are you joining in?

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