The weekend was exactly what I hoped for. Sleeping in, lots of reading, plenty of time for exercise… The weird February weather translated to time spent outside – a run the Greenway and lesson planning on the porch.
On Sunday we took the tennis rackets and bag of tennis balls my grandfather gave us in January and made a solid attempt at playing. We’re all terrible and none of us know how to keep score, so we just whacked the ball back and forth until we were tired.
In between these wonderful memory-making moments were maddening political developments and a friend’s family crisis, events that pulled me straight out of a lovely moment and reminded me that life is hard and fragile.
Even very little things, like an overtired, grumpy teenager and a ten year old whose emotional development is a few years behind, challenged my mood and ability to see the good.
But I persisted, because I have to, because as a mother and homeschooler and anxious person, it’s too easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of everyday life, which isn’t productive, healthy, or helpful.
Instead, I must choose to find the good, to keep it in the forefront, and let it serve as a placeholder for when I’m tempted to dwell in the dark. If I don’t choose this, then I’m down, down, down, and then I bring down those around me.
It is true, at least in this household, that the woman sets the temperature of the room.
Signs of Life is a blog series I’m writing for February 2017. It was born out of desire to replace the negativity and despair that’s been bogging down our friendships, families, and communities after a tumultuous election season. This series won’t solve the world’s problems, but I hope it will create a speck of light and positivity when and where it is needed.