Getting older offers so many lessons--what a surprise it was to me to realize in my early twenties that "growing up" was really a process not a place or a culmination I would ever reach. Now, in my forties, after so many lessons--some easy, some painful, some just intense--I find that I am called to a major task: Learning to take myself and life much less seriously!
Striving for order, perfection, and to just get a handle on the constant chaos of life has been a pretty futile task. People do what they do, things happen, I get tired or say the wrong thing or change my mind. While I still strive to keep marginal control over the things in my world that I can control, I am gradually learning to embrace my imperfections in all their quirky reality.
Being honest matters to me, as does fulfilling my commitments and responsibilities--but I am finally learning that I don't have to take on more than I want to and I do not have to be absolutely flawless and perfect at the things I do attempt. I make mistakes--big ones! I bumble and stumble and am learning that some of it can be pretty darn funny (and fun)--so, I'm learning to lighten up and as I accept that other people are delightfully human, I'm allowing myself to be human too.
(Thanks to Meli Ewing who took this photo at Lucy's and Lilly's graduation party; I have no idea how or when she got it, but I figure she captured a very accurate and current "snapshot.")
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