Choosing to Prevail

Well, hello there!

Life sure is interesting, hey?

Yeah. Yeah, it is.

But it is what we make of it.

For the last several weeks, I have been choosing to prevail. No matter what the situation, I choose to prevail with love in my heart.

Do you know what happens when you do that?

You come out with more than you could have expected. You find more meaning in life. You have gratitude every day.

For instance, Brady P goes to his dad's house on weekends in the summer time. Those weekends are my chance to be Amanda -- whatever that means for me that particular weekend.  Whatever I want to do or clean or paint or fix or see.

It really helps keep me balanced.

Last Wednesday night, Brady P came down with a fever. Yikes! I asked the neighbors and other families if they had experienced anything similar lately, and the consensus was, yes, a 24-hour tummy bug.

So he was still fevering on Thursday, and since Aaron has a wife and small child, it was not fitting for Brady P to enter their home until things were settled.

We worked it out so that I would keep him for the weekend.

MY weekend!

At first I was really bummed, and thought, "this isn't fair!"

But it was the right thing to do, so it didn't matter if I thought it was fair or not. That's life. Do the right thing, gosh darn it!

As I let that idea settle, I really became okay with it. We spent the whole weekend together and now the first week without school because he still has a cough (not Covid, at least!).

So here I am, taking care of this little boy for much longer than I thought with all my plans foiling while I got sick too.

Do you want to know what?

We had a great time!

We had so much fun together going for walks, being zombies, playing new games, playing in the yard and just plain being present with each other.

Instead of being bitter about my situation, I embraced it. When I am at peace, he is at peace, and we really enjoy each other's company. We laugh and do goofy things and learn and dance and eat good food and cheers our drinks and snuggle and just enjoy life the way it was meant to be.

I am grateful.

So, this potentially "ruined" weekend turned out to be a real growing moment for us. My conscious attitude shift was key.

And of course, my determination to prevail has been quite helpful as well.

Because when you choose to prevail with love in your heart and the best of intentions, you prevail. And when you keep doing that, you realize that there is no better way to live.

At least that's where I'm at. Maybe you already choose that path. If so, we will probably meet up on it. Cheers!

This is the face before the Zombie comes out!