"Upsetting the "normal" while creating the beautiful." Annette Kruschek |
This is proof that the life she's living on the outside matches what her heart is saying on the inside. Hattie's smile; her very genuine smile that I have known for 20 years is aligned with her heart.
Last week Hattie was invited to have a traditional Shabbat dinner with a family living in Israel. She walked away from that two hour meal blown away by both their hospitality and the similarities between this family and her own. You see, this family has eight children as well. Hattie became fast friends with their eldest. I am sure these two young women had lots of stories to share of what it's like being the oldest of eight. By the end of the evening these two were sharing emails and looking forward to the next time they would meet. I continue to think how Hattie's experiences this summer in Israel is possibly teaching me just as much as it is teaching her. She used a word the other day that literally hit me across head. She said, "Mom, I can't explain it but the people here are very intentional." "Life is slower here in a way hard to explain. I like it." "When someone says, "how are you? They mean it and really want to know." Living intentionally. What does that mean? Well, for many it can mean different things. But I think when you get to the core of being intentional you are saying... "I'm making decisions NOT based on what everyone else is doing." I've learned that when you live a life of "keeping up" the costs are high. In my personal experience the consequence of these choices end up dragging us through life and suddenly... Days roll into weeks. Weeks roll into years. And on and on and on. I've learned over the years to stop using the statement... "When... blah blah blah Then I will... blah blah blah." Too much of our culture tells us that we "have to" keep up or then... Then what? Our kids don't get on the elite team? We aren't invited to the "popular" party. Why? Being intentional is about getting to the core of YOU. The core of your values. I firmly believe that once you have hit your core it becomes easier to sweep away the clutter, the "extras", the distractions that keep us from our authentic self. It's a journey people. I will be the first to say that distractions in life are EVERYWHERE but if you boil it down to your core values and beliefs and listen to that voice inside of you, limiting the clutter becomes less confusing. Your core values help you choose your direction in life. Ask yourself this... are you driving on a highway with no real plan of where you are even going? Do you have the cruise control set and are coasting along because hitting a pothole or possibly taking that alternative route may be too "dangerous"? Or are you like a large majority... speeding through life; racing down the highway trying to keep up with all the cars in your lane? Guess what happens when you are racing? You live life gripped to the steering wheel and only see what is smack dab in front of you. I'm learning. I'm learning not from myself but rather from my own kids that life is meant to be "lived" and not gripped to the steering wheel. Stop speeding down the highway to the "next destination". The side of the road, the road less traveled, the exit that seems risky is where the memories are made. What I have learned through the years is that when you slow your car down; your grip loosens and you have the ability to look around. Stop worrying about the mob of cars all piled up on the highway. They are gripping the wheel, racing to the next "thing" and are most likely frustrated that they haven't had a chance to stop and smell the roses on the side of the road. When you stop to smell the roses something happens inside of you. You not only smell the rose but you get to really look at the rose, absorb the soil that is surrounding that rose and heck, you even have the ability to clip the rose and bring it in your house to admire it for a week or so. I'm here to tell you that my kids have taught me about smelling the roses. Dan and I joke about how we feel like we have two sets of kids... the older and the younger. Having such a large span in age between our kids has been a major blessing. I now can look at my 19 and 20 year old adult children and see that it's okay that they didn't belong to every club, we didn't race to every event, they didn't receive the "latest and greatest" gadgets. The picture of Hattie hugging the sweet little babe from Africa is my reminder that living intentionally doesn't happen when you are gripped to the wheel of a runaway car. Do something today... something radical, something that may end up causing you to get out of the fast lane and land yourself on the side of the road for a bit BUT do this one thing... ask yourself what you would really like to do with your life. What is it at the core of your being that makes your heart pump, your smile emerge and you left feeling proud? What would it be? I bet you a million dollars you could ask my daughter, Hattie and she would say she's doing it. BUT did it come without pain, sacrifice and a whole bunch of fear? Heck no! One month ago I found myself watching her step away from three people she loves very much at an airport. I watched her almost faint because the fear was so great. I also watched her bravely step away from us, from a familiar language, familiar sights and familiar luxuries and enter the unknown territory of what would lie ahead for the next 74 days. RISK. It's a part of life but when you follow your core beliefs and stick to your values that is the point when you are living life with intention. Please don't get me wrong; living a life of intention doesn't mean you need to travel 6,000 miles away. It doesn't even mean you have to board a plane. It simply means you don't set your life on cruise control or swim with the current because it's the easiest. Swim upstream. Take your foot off the gas. Stop doing something just because "everyone else is doing it". Everyone else is searching. It's like one big game. Create your own set of rules today. One that involves your best interest. You have one little life to live. Get out of the fast lane and live it before your car literally runs out of gas or runs out of life. Go find the rose. Go take a sniff. Clip it and put it in your house as a reminder that stopping to smell the roses isn't being lazy it's being intentional. One day that rose will be gone and all that will be left are the sharp thorns. Choose to take in the beauty while it is still alive. Your kids will thank you and I promise you will never be happier.
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AuthorI am a proud Mother to eight children and a wife to my very best friend. I work hard, play hard and love until it hurts. Archives
January 2023
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