Since having Delaney, I seem to get more frustrated, more easily. Most of it comes from not having control over things that I wish I did. Can you say control freak? This past week has seemed to be even more discouraging and has made me question many times, Am I really finding joy in the journey? I was getting more frustrated, as Delaney still isn't consistently sleeping through the night, after cleaning for hours a little two-year-old terrorist can destroy it in 2.0 seconds, that same two year old refusing to take her naps, an 8 month old that is dealing with separation anxiety and cries every time you leave the room (making it very difficult to get things done) and so on and so on. My point is not to cry woe is me or I hate my life, it is more I have found myself not enjoying my children and concentrating more on my house is a mess, why did you pee on the floor and such. My husband always is telling corny jokes to me and always says, Lauren, why can't you just smile? Yesterday, I read a talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin from the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference that really opened my eyes and gave me an aha moment. It is titled, Come What May, and Love it. I know he wasn't directing it at mothers, but as a mother I felt he was talking directly at me and for me. He shared a few things that he had learned over the years to help him through testings and trials. One of those points was to Learn to Laugh. He shared this:
I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children; then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn’t move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car and, red faced, ran back into the house. The man that she thought was her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife.
We all had a good laugh over that. In fact, we couldn’t stop laughing. Later, when our daughter’s real blind date showed up, I couldn’t come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it today.
The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.
I learned that I needed to laugh more and enjoy those around me and in turn as Elder Wirthlin says, maybe I will be more enjoyable to those around me.
4 comments:
cute turkey!
That is funny- a few weeks ago I had to give a talk on Sacrament (you already knew that), but I mostly based it around that talk! It was a good one.
the turkey is really cute! and i think that message from the talk was a really good reminder for me, too! why is it so easy to get frustrated and stressed?
I love the Thankful turkey idea!! Thanks for the Joseph B. Wirthlin quote! :)
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