It's funny the way life pans out. The way we can be learning a lesson in that exact moment and something happens and it's like you are watching your struggles play out in front of you at that very moment and the advice I am rolling off of my tongue is exactly what I need in that very moment. I smile, and look up. Thank you. <3

Kensie (my four year old) and I have been making shrinky dink jewelry whenever James (my 1 year old) is sleeping or playing with Daddy. The shrinky dinks were all colored and cooked, so we were ready to make the jewelry. The first necklace that we made, she had me do the beads for her--the string was flimsy and she was having trouble. I did and she was SO excited about her first piece of jewelry that she made! The next day she wanted to make a bracelet. We figured out which beads and shrinky dinks she would use, and I told her to get started while I switched the laundry over. Well low and behold, she came to me in the laundry room to show me her beautiful bracelet that she REALLY did all by herself. She was so proud of it and I was so excited for her! We talked about how she doubted herself and yet she still put her mind to it and she succeeded. She made up her mind and didn't give up. (insert first lesson)

She wanted me to tie it on her wrist but went over to the table real quick and she screamed. I looked over and she dropped the bracelet and half of the beads fell off. She looked at me with devastation. "It's ruined, Mommy. I worked so hard on this and it fell apart." I helped her pick up the pieces and encouraged her to put it back together. "Mommy, it will never be the same. It will be so hard to put it back together" I said to her, "It will probably better." (insert second and third lesson, and me glancing up and smiling) She reluctantly put the bracelet back together, and she loved it even more!

Have you ever started something that seemed so overwhelming and difficult that you gave up before you even started?? Then the next day, go back to it and start bead by bead going through the steps to do it, and it turned out not so bad?? It's almost like if we don't look at the big picture and just take one step in front of each other we can do it. It's like looking at weight loss or how far we have to go to get to our end goal. If we know we need to lose 10 pounds, it can feel like too much, but if we just know the steps we have to take today, it's not so bad, because today we can do those steps. The steps might be different tomorrow, but right now we will focus on today.

Then we mess up. We either ate a little too much, or we realized that the work we did is not exactly what we want it to look like, so we have to revamp, we have to take a few steps back to get going again. And that's ok. But we can't give up now. We can't go back. We know it's not easy, but we know too much. We've seen glimpses and we know it's possible. So we reluctantly pick back up. We ask for help and support when we need it but we know in the end, we are the only ones that can do it.

Trust yourself and your desires.

Don't give up.

Revamp, reconfigure, and KEEP GOING!!

Much Love,