Bloom, Dang It!
I almost wrote today about some monkeys who kill their babies and the correlation scientists have found between these primates and human mothers but I changed my mind.
After all, I haven’t killed my young. Yet. So why would I need to worry about monkeys?
In addition to that conclusion, I checked my search stats and discovered someone came across StealingFaith.com by typing “life is not what I thought it would be” into a search bar somewhere and my heart felt kinship and my topic for the day was chosen.
Last weekend we attended a wedding of some graduates of the college we used to work for and it was so beautiful and wonderful and we saw people I love with my whole heart. In the midst of the celebrating I heard more than one person answer the common “What have you been doing with your life?” question with a version of, “Well, I thought I would be doing this but now I’m doing that.”
Most people in the US change their careers three times over the course of their lives. Most children don’t grow up to be astronauts or firefighters. Or even drive a tractor.
Despite the excitement and proliferation of ridiculous reality television shows, most people aren’t on t.v. and will never be famous. Or the President.
I’m not sure I know anyone who hasn’t thought “Life Is Not How I Thought It Would Be.”
If you’re hoping I’m about to say something deep and profound about this, well, you’re barking up the wrong tree. But I do have two book recommendations that have made me think hard about the distance between our reality and our dreams: The Trouble with Paris by Mark Sayers and Quitter by Jon Acuff.
The older I get the easier it is to roll with the punches. That’s probably because I live with three drunken bumblebees for children and you know what they say about the best-laid plans? Well, the best-laid plans of any mother with small children are equal to one thing and one thing alone:
Lunacy.
So let me be clear, I have no real wisdom in this area but I do have a favorite coffee cup.
If you’re curious, my favorite coffee cup has a phrase on it, beautifully illustrated by my favorite artist, Mary Englebreit. That phrase?
“Bloom where you’re planted.”
I clutch that coffee cup filled with caffienated bliss in my hands in the morning, watch my life that is not exactly what I thought it would be and do my best to bloom every day.
May your days be filled with blooming as well!
When I was in my Masters program, I had to read an article about “First They Kill all the Babies” It was about monkeys and how when a new dominant male came into the the tribe, pod, group?…. He would kill all the offspring of the previous alpha male. So that he could impregnant the mothers with HIS DNA. Many times you see the news that a child has been killed by the mom’s boyfriend. I think you hear that more than mothers or fathers killing their children. Makes you think….
Oh! That’s awful! And really interesting!
I wholeheartedly agree with this post! Life doesn’t turn out the way you expect, and you just learn to make the most of it, or you drown. Here’s to making the most of the life you’re given!