Doin' the Me Thing

So, it looks like I fell off the face of the earth....perhaps I did. Right into the world of laundry, making birthday cakes, helping to cheer on the daughter with exams, organizing my desk, visiting my mother at her mountain house, planting flowers, herbs, and vegetables, counseling, cooking, and all the other things that are done in the Town of Me.

I actually like Me most of the times these days. I had always heard and read that entering the 40's (I entered a few years ago, believe me) brought a new awakening, a loosening of judgement on self and others, a keen understanding of things that have never made sense before, a calmness of spirit that in your 20's and 30's you could only wish for, and a beauty that far surpasses botox, collagen treatments, and Oil of Olay. I declare that it is true.

I smile more with my family, I laugh more with friends, I listen more than talk, I cook more with pomp and flair, I decorate more with bold color, I sing more with the radio in the car, I think more before I speak, I spend more time looking at the flowers, and I feel more strongly about my faith than ever before!

Before this begins to sound cheesy, I will stop. I do want you to know that "doing the Me thing" --at least for me -- does NOT include: leaving my family to find myself, spending money on things that will put us in debt just because I feel it will somehow satisfy me, speaking my mind to people just because I feel I've lived a while and have the right to, and doing more for myself and less for others because I deserve it. I am weary and quite disturbed by the number of women that are walking away from their families just to find themselves, give themselves more, etc.... Our society (if you listen even with one ear) will tell us that we deserve more than our families can give us.

However, to me, that is not where true satisfaction comes in. Growing older, accepting that fact, and basking in the pure elemental bliss of the blessings that God has given us over the years is just about heaven on earth to me. I may not always come across that way to my family. There are struggles....my changing body, the raging hormones, the added physiological tension that has entered my body and threatens to blow deadly rays of fire to those around me. Oh, yeah, I struggle with all that stuff.

But having been somewhat philosophical and extremely in tune with myself and life around me for most of my life, I have chosen to call a spade a spade and a heart a heart.

My youngest daughter leaves in a week to do some volunteer counseling at a camp in the mountains for seven weeks. She will turn 16 while she is away. I am having trouble with that part. But I'm loving the realization that she just wants to do for others, invest in lives, and learn more about God for herself. Yep, that part, I'm really liking.

I am dedicated to doing some major writing on my book during those seven weeks. But there are also some other obligations and opportunities that I need to be faithful with. Balancing them into the priorities for my summer schedule is going to be the key.

So, I'll just keep "doing the Me thing" -- and thanking God for the blessings and opportunities that come with that!