Life is always changing, and we usually have to change with it to live well. Of course some traditional life ways will remain, but mainly as the world around us changes, we too have to change.
This year has been a big leap into change for me. My sons who have been the mainstay of my life for almost thirty years, are now out in the world living their own lives. They're fully engaged in their personal and professional efforts which makes our times together filled with wonderful stories and a sense of celebration as we hear each others' tales and recount stories of the past too. As a mom, there's always a bit of worry as I know life can be tough at times, yet I mainly want to be a positive supporter of their leaps into adulthood and living the lives they choose.
It's a changing time in my extended family too as my nieces and nephews embark on their adult lives, and their parents do as I am doing in trying to stay supportive and spend time with these young adults. This means there's less time and ability to gather as an extended family since people are pulled in multiple directions. This distance creates some change too, change in perspectives, change in time, and change in our ability to support one another as we have in the past.
Change means that we're forging some new traditions and leaving some old traditions behind. For example, my husband and I will be traveling more so that we are able to share in our sons' adventures. We love to travel, so we're eager to do this, however travel means changing the way we spend money and time since travel takes both money and time.
Holidays will be different this year too. As we age we are met with more challenges related to age and death in our extended family. We've lost loved ones this year which affects who we celebrate with and when. Some relatives are unable to travel as easily as in the past, and some have new families and people to celebrate with thanks to new and deepening relationships. My mom always handled this well by giving us a blank check with regard to time and allegiance at the holidays--she allowed us to go where we desired to be, and didn't challenge our decisions. I want to do the same with my sons.
In light of all these changes, I want to stay focused on what matters. Family and friends matter. We want to make time for family and friends, the people who support us and whom we support too. Good living matters--that doesn't mean living with lots of things, but instead living with good choices, good energy, good routines, and good time. Doing work that matters is important and doing that work well matters too. My husband and I are fortunate to have careers that are meaningful to us and colleagues that we care for--we enjoy our work and want to make time to do well in our careers. The theme of less things, more time continues to focus our time and attention too. We don't need a lot of material objects, but we do enjoy having time to enjoy our interests in nature, at museums, via travel, and with friends and family. We like to explore, adventure, and learn, and there's countless affordable opportunities to do that all around us.
We have to step back now and then to consider the changes in our lives and how we will meet those changes in positive ways. This helps us to redirect our paths in ways that matter.
This year has been a big leap into change for me. My sons who have been the mainstay of my life for almost thirty years, are now out in the world living their own lives. They're fully engaged in their personal and professional efforts which makes our times together filled with wonderful stories and a sense of celebration as we hear each others' tales and recount stories of the past too. As a mom, there's always a bit of worry as I know life can be tough at times, yet I mainly want to be a positive supporter of their leaps into adulthood and living the lives they choose.
It's a changing time in my extended family too as my nieces and nephews embark on their adult lives, and their parents do as I am doing in trying to stay supportive and spend time with these young adults. This means there's less time and ability to gather as an extended family since people are pulled in multiple directions. This distance creates some change too, change in perspectives, change in time, and change in our ability to support one another as we have in the past.
Change means that we're forging some new traditions and leaving some old traditions behind. For example, my husband and I will be traveling more so that we are able to share in our sons' adventures. We love to travel, so we're eager to do this, however travel means changing the way we spend money and time since travel takes both money and time.
Holidays will be different this year too. As we age we are met with more challenges related to age and death in our extended family. We've lost loved ones this year which affects who we celebrate with and when. Some relatives are unable to travel as easily as in the past, and some have new families and people to celebrate with thanks to new and deepening relationships. My mom always handled this well by giving us a blank check with regard to time and allegiance at the holidays--she allowed us to go where we desired to be, and didn't challenge our decisions. I want to do the same with my sons.
In light of all these changes, I want to stay focused on what matters. Family and friends matter. We want to make time for family and friends, the people who support us and whom we support too. Good living matters--that doesn't mean living with lots of things, but instead living with good choices, good energy, good routines, and good time. Doing work that matters is important and doing that work well matters too. My husband and I are fortunate to have careers that are meaningful to us and colleagues that we care for--we enjoy our work and want to make time to do well in our careers. The theme of less things, more time continues to focus our time and attention too. We don't need a lot of material objects, but we do enjoy having time to enjoy our interests in nature, at museums, via travel, and with friends and family. We like to explore, adventure, and learn, and there's countless affordable opportunities to do that all around us.
We have to step back now and then to consider the changes in our lives and how we will meet those changes in positive ways. This helps us to redirect our paths in ways that matter.