My oldest came home from college on Friday and went into provider/caretaker mode since, with this bug, I can use the help. I was so thankful for her presence. She reminds me of my Mama, able to shoot straight with me and calm me at the same time–in fact, like my Mama, she insists that I calm down. It’s actually quite comical.
When I’m not in the middle of the moment, that is.
Friday evening she started making some pasta for supper for her siblings. I watched in fascination as she first poured the frozen ravioli into the pot and then added the water.
Huh.
It didn’t overflow–because, well, you know, she put all she wanted to cook in there first.
Huh.
My standard modus operandi is to guess-fill a pot with water, take it to the stove, sit it down, and then pour in my pasta or peas or whatever else I might be cooking. Inevitably I wind up with the water getting dangerously close to the top, and I have to drain it a bit, OR I have to tote it back to the sink and add a little more water. Rarely do I get it spot on.
Like Aub did.
I think it’s easy to do that in life too. I have all the things going on, and then I have something I really, really need to do, and I try to add it to the mix, and something almost always boils over, and things get really messy.
Instead, if I did what my wise girl did and took what was the most important and then added to THAT, things might not get so messy.
The busy time of being with friends and family and sitting together and visiting and going to plays and gatherings and meals and all sorts of wonderful seasonal things is upon us. It is very easy to take on everything that is out there, and then when something we really, truly would love to be a part of comes along, we are already so packed, it just can’t happen. At least not without stressing us out.
Rest. Reflect. Take time to create margins in your days, so you can breathe and have room to fill with good things that might come later, or for you to replenish for all of the other good things to come.
Basically, y’all, don’t fill your pot before you get the really important stuff in. Nobody wants to deal with the mess that usually follows.
Tonight I’m thankful for the wisdom and caring spirit of my oldest, who did a lot of running around and cheering up this weekend. She gives me a hard time sometimes and I her, but she really is growing up to do things in her own way–and oftentimes I wind up learning from her.
Love to all.
I Might Need A Nap 