The other day my friend shared with me the following:
When last did you just enjoy life? When you take a walk out side,did you notice all the different trees, birds and even the clouds? When last did you just enjoy the smell of fresh air, nature's sounds?
This made me think. We are so busy with our daily routine, going to work, come back home, feed the kids , watch something on TV and go to bed. We live to work and not enjoy life.
This morning I went for a run with a friend of mine, we talked about different topics but most of all we enjoyed each others company. On a stage it was quiet between us, mostly because we were tired. I started looking around and notice that there were a lot of different trees in the one street. It was still very early so no cars or people around us so you could hear the birds singing. I started breathing in the fresh air, the smell of jasmine and wet grass (it rained during the night). It was so refreshing, but not just for that moment, it has effected my whole day.
I was reminded that theirs more to life, more to just a normal routine, more to just feed my children and teach them to go through life just because. Its also to make memories , memories that would last a lifetime.
Just the effect of the morning run activated my memories of my childhood. Time spend with my dad, weekend mornings outside in the garden. He past away a few years ago, so I treasure every memory of him. School holidays were the best, we went to the beach, ate ice cream, build sandcastles and just enjoyed our family time together. This was also the time we could stay up till late and sleep in every morning. But their was one vacation in particular. It was our last vacation as family together before my brother left the house. We did everything together but my highlight was when we went ice skating, my dad couldn't stay on his feet.We dragged him around but couldn't stop laughing. It feels like it was yesterday.
Have you ever noticed how some smells or songs will activate a memory? This is the same with my kids. We need to give them memories to tell their children someday. When the sadness overwhelms me I think of all the good things that we have done together.
This morning my oldest daughter told me that she misses her grandfather because he played with her. They had this thing every night before she went to bed, they would walk around the house and look at the stars. He made her laugh and always joked with her. He would go down on his knees and carry her around on his back. This is the memories she have of him. Family that makes memories stay together and face life together. It's always easy to go through something with someone than do it alone.
When I look back on life I realize that life isn't easy and sometimes I want to give up and just disappear but we are here for a reason. To help our kids learn to dream again. Not our dreams but to make their own. To make memories with them. By doing this we also teach them to enjoy whatever they do. If I ask my children what do they enjoy the most? They would say :" Having Cake and coffee with you mommy". They love making tea and act like adults and ask questions.
I was watching them today: They are so full of energy, so full of excitement. They laugh at the smallest thing. They make up their own games. We laught about their silly ideas and the things they think about. They are so free, so exited about anything like going in to town. They want to know about everything. And we sometimes are just to tired to just do something different or something new. Just maybe it could change our perspective about things.
The reason why I've started running is because me and my dad use to run together when I was still a child. It was difficult back then and lots of time I thought that I will not make this but then he was their to encourage me to motivate me that we are almost done, he would always say " you can do this, you have done this before, I belief in you!" This made me want to run faster because he believed in me. I never wanted to disappoint him because he was my hero. At a stage I had to make a decision between two boys, I was so confused so I asked him " Dad if you had to choose between a Ford or a Mercedes which one would you prefer?" My dad had a weakness for cars. He just replied " You know I love Mercedes so I'll choose that one, if you want to know which boy, what do you feel in your heart, which one is making you feel special?" He knew me to well that it was about a boy. His support in everything made me want to be better and made me choose the right guy and the one that I'm married to today.
His support in our lives has had a great impact , he was always there for us. When we lost our first born he was their to just support...he didn't say much but just his love and care spoke a thousand words. When our babies were born he and my mom were the first to be their. They shared all the excitement with us on this new adventure in our lives.
I want to be like this. When my child is doing Athletics I want to cheer her on, no matter what place she comes in it's about finishing it. When they play hockey I'll be their to cheer for them. When they do homework we'll help were ever we can and even if theirs tears to wipe them of and encourage them to try again. When they dance I'll be dancing with them. Everything that they do I want to do it with them. Like I said it's about making memories.
They represent us to the world. When people see them they see us. My question is :
What does the world see when they see your child? What does the world see when they see us? When you think back on your childhood what memories do you have?
When me and my husband started dating, I was emotionally unhealthy. But because he knew me and believed in me he helped me to get my confidence back, to start living again and not hiding anymore. Hurt tends to let us hide away and we hope no body sees us but his love pulled me back to reality. It's amazing what someones love can do to you and help you get back and make you want to love again. We have made so much memories together, it makes us grow closer and our love grow stronger. Sometimes we would just laugh about how things happened in the past, mistakes that we thought was to big to carry now its funny and turns out to be a good memory.
When I look at our two daughters I realize they are so privileged on the way they grow up. There are some homes that doesn't have laughter, love or peace in. The memory that they have is fear, disappointment and not being good enough. My heart breaks for them, they are still so small and yet one day they will be adults like us. They need someone to belief in them. The other day my daughter came home she asked me if I could pack an extra lunch box. I asked her about it and she said its for one of her classmates. She always share her lunch with her. She cared about this child, she is crowing up in a house were caring for each other is very important. It made me so proud of her, she's only 7 years old and she can see the need in others.
Lets make memories for our children to last a life time. Memories makes us feel loved, special and wanted. May you feel wanted and loved by you loved ones.
