Marching to the beat of her own drum

My daughter was described as "ecclectic" today. I just laughed. We had spirit days this week and today was her favorite: mis-matched day. She picked out her outfit the night before as if she was pulling out what she would wear any day. She even accessorized with funky jewelry and a scarf she pulled out of my closet. I had to get her to help me with mine. She twirled around the living room telling me she wishes she could sleep in her outfit and wear it all the time.

Princess is unique in her own way. She is kinda cooky.. and I love it. I'm hoping her tendency to not be like the other kids will help her stand up to peer pressure in the coming years. I'm hoping she won't conform to the ways of the world but instead continue to pray for God to make her the kind person He wants her to be. I'm hoping she doesn't lose her open-hearted innocence.

I debate letting her have full rein over herself daily. So many times she comes up with this crazy idea and I have to shoot it down with my mean 'ol logic & reasoning. She doesn't understand why I won't just let her wear the clunky tennis shoes with her church dress and a hoodie over it, lol. She's always been that way. I remember huge battles over making her wear pants to leave the house when she was just two. She had her underwear, pajama shirt & boots on after all. She'd even put on a hat.

I forsee many more struggles for control in our future. Sometimes I think she just finds it amusing to see me try to come up with reasons why she can't do crazy things. There are times when I just give in because I can't think of a good enough reason not to. It was fun to give her all the power to pick whatever she wanted to wear for a change. Today celebrated her free-spiritedness. I am thankful for days like today.

Wordless Wed ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELS!

Wordless Wed~Laughing too hard to speak!

Perspective

I wish I could pull myself outside of myself sometimes.. get a little perspective. How much easier would it be to go through a rough time if you knew it was only going to last for a little while and that something better was right around the corner! Think of the confidence you would have as you faced each new challenge. As believers, isn't that exactly how we should face anything that comes our way?
My sister told me recently about an insightful moment she had with her baby boy. She was changing his diaper, which can be a huge task for anyone as he is a strong and wiggly baby who has a great set of lungs on him. While she was fighting him & pleading with him to just hold still for one minute- it hit her ---> He doesn't know that this isn't the end of the world - to him it is. She has perspective on the situation and he doesn't. She said she wondered how many times she's whined and thrown a fit about something in her life because to her it felt like the end of the world. And how God was probably looking at her saying poor child, it's okay, just hold on, I'm in control.. I've got this.
I know when things feel hopeless to me or when I'm striving and fighting and struggling, my God is telling me to just hold still for a minute and let him finish. What an important thing to remember!

Someone Else

Did you ever find yourself wondering what it would be like to be someone else? Even if only for a day you could walk in someone else's shoes, see things through someone else's eyes.. To be able to step outside of yourself & see the world in a different way would be amazing.

Often I wonder if the way I perceive things is tainted by past experiences, emotions, fears, and doubts more than by reality. I get annoyed with myself. I don't always like how I handle things or the way my brain shifts into auto-pilot when I'm hurt and my heart goes into self-protect mode by putting up a fortress around it. We get irritated at other people from time to time, no matter how much we love them, so wouldn't it make sense that we'd not like ourselves sometimes too. I mean we do spend an awful lot of time with ourselves & all.

If only there was this magic button we could press when we felt like we were too much of "ourselves" and could switch to being more like someone else. Say someone who usually walks all over you makes some critical comment and you flip the switch & suddenly you are that firey co-worker of yours who always has a comeback for everything. You snap back at them and they back down. Boom! Problem solved. Right? Well maybe not. It reminds me of "You've Got Mail" when Meg Ryan is upset that she never has something mean to say when she wishes she did and then there's that moment when she says exactly what she wanted to say in the right moment... AND... she feels terrible about it. Maybe that's just not us.. to say something hurtful to someone just to get them back. After all that leaves you with guilt on top of the hurt you feel from what THEY said to you in the first place. And the sad thing is, THEY don't feel guilty at all, but you know you will.

I guess it's not that I wish I could BE someone else really. Just that I wish I could be a little less ME sometimes. Less anxious. Less analytical. Less critical of myself. Less emotional. Less unorganized. Less naive. Less trusting. Less timid. Less introverted. Less, less, less.. caring? Yes. Sometimes I do wish I didn't care so much, seems like things would be easier.

I think the more you try to be something you're not, the more disconnected you'll feel, and the true you will come out anyway. I believe in self improvement, but there are just some things in your personality, your make up, that you just cannot change. So it goes back to the well known prayer:
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.