Thoughts from Paul Reiser:
But I do believe that between waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night, there's a good chance something will happen that'll surprise me and ultimately hurt me.
This phenomenon seems to be new...since becoming a father. I've noticed these daily "pings" of hurt. It hurts me when my kids are hurt, when they narrowly miss being hurt, when they're saddened, disappointment, frustrated, or frightened. I'm saddened when they discover something about life that I wish weren't so. It hurts me when I see them not trusting or believing someone - yet, ironically, seeing them actually being trusting and believing breaks me heart too. It all hurts a little. And I don't know how to not feel these things. Apparently, being a father means you get pinged a hundred times a day.
On the other hand - and this is a huge, enormous hand - you're also going to get pings of unspeakable joy. Daily. Practically hourly. From the simplest things. Like watching my boys sleep stuns me with happiness. Seeing them wake up - same thing. Getting to watch them grow day by day, I feel such profound gratitude, I....almost can't even breathe correctly.
Excerpt from Familyhood by Paul Reiser
I would have to agree with Paul's sentiments completely.
Sometimes, life gets really busy and days pass within a routine. In the systematic flow of staying on top of my mothering duties.....
Is the child alive? CHECK!
Is the child healthy? CHECK!
Is the child getting a good balance of healthy food? CHECK!
Will I get cool points for letting him eat another piece of Halloween candy? CHECK!
...I sometimes lose sight of the awesome and terrible pings of life, because they're just bouncing off me as I journey forward with my list of "awesome mom" objectives.
But there are lovely moments of pause in life, when the beauty unfolds and I look at this beautiful small human who shares a part of me and parts of our family, who is becoming all his own character and personality....and "I almost can't even breath correctly." My heart stops and swells with pride, with love (and thankfulness that I've been able to keep him alive...I didn't go to mothering training, you know).
Those moments remind me that I need to schedule more pause times in life, so that I can tap into the beauty more often.
Just think if we all allowed ourselves just a little more time to tap into the beauty that unfolds around us all the time. It would be a different world, because people would see more than their objectives.
Just think if we all allowed ourselves just a little more time to tap into the beauty that unfolds around us all the time. It would be a different world, because people would see more than their objectives.
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