Putting Things Into Perspective

Oz Spies, who blogs over at Babble.com and has a son almost exactly Eva's age, is one of my favorite mommy bloggers. It's funny-- hers isn't a blog I check every day, but every so often I get the urge to stop by her corner of the web, and I'm never disappointed.

She recently put up this post, which is exactly what I needed to read today-- especially the following:

When the man I mentioned above was first battling cancer, he decided not to censor any good impulse. Once, at a meeting, he turned to me and told me that I was beautiful and so smart, in the most sincere way. It came from the sort of open-hearted honesty that's all too rare, so rare that I didn't even know how to respond. It was one of the best compliments I've ever gotten.

I'd like to live that way more often, complimenting people with abandon, maintaining patience and joy despite how tired or bloated I feel.

Our little family is lucky, so lucky. We have enough money to pay our bills, with enough left over to order take out just because we don't feel like cooking. We're healthy. Trees have not fallen on any of us, ever. Why is that so easy to forget sometimes? Why does all the good, the important stuff, get obscured by the tufts of dog hair collecting in corners and low-blood sugar crankiness and bumps and bruises?

Counting my blessings is a surefire way to pull out of whatever slump I might find myself in, but I don't always remember to do it. The truth is that there are so many amazing things in my life right now, and in our collective life as a family. Every single day Eva says or does something that makes me feel like I've won the Parenting Lottery, and really-- what could possibly compete with that?

I can't promise that the very next blog post won't be full of more job search woe-- this blog is where I come to work out a lot of those feelings-- but I do promise to try very hard to keep this challenge that we're facing in perspective.

Another way I'm trying to do this is by reading stories of people who have survived challenges so severe as to be life-threatening. I just finished this book by Laurence Gonzales, which was riveting, and I'm now reading this one, as Holocaust narratives are kind of my tonal center when it comes to remembering how incredibly much I have to be thankful for.

Oz has another baby on the way (which I mentioned here), and while I was kind of incredulous at the time, I'm so grateful she's going ahead of me in having baby #2. Whatever worries I have about that next step (and would it really be shocking to you to know that I have some?), I'll be able to benefit from her experiences as she faces life as a mother of two with grace and wit.

Such a great blogger. Another thing to be thankful for!