Just One Gift: Time!

One of my major hopes for 2019 is to work on balancing time. Now do not worry, I am not planning on solving this ultimate balance this year. The goal is more to do all I can to focus my time on what matters most. When I go to bed at night and try to evaluate the highs and lows of my day, I start seeing a theme of feeling like I need to be at 10 places at once.

This is a struggle for most of the parents in my world. Many are frustrated because they are exhausted, wiped out from trying to guess how many hours their kids should be at camps, what is the ideal amount of time to get all of their work complete and have time to see your spouse and friends…?

The small shifts for me have been aimed at attempting to be more present. This is something I struggle with for a billion reasons. But this is the one that keeps me up at night the most. I am fortunate to work for companies that value family. With that, I put pressure on myself to be always available. When I am with the girls, that takes away from my time with them. We all struggle with the fact that cell phones allow us to be found 24/7. One thing that has proven to be beneficial is stepping away from my phone for periods of time. Now, this does NOT mean I do not have a long way to go. I also love taking photos with my phone. Again, there is a balance in just being in the moment and then capturing the moment. I only have a handful of images with my Dad, and I would give anything to change that.

The girls and their besties

Our summer bucket list is smaller this year. With the girls entering kindergarten, I feel like they should have scheduled time to just have fun with their friends. Yes, me and the girls like to stay on-the-go. We prefer to be with others and have an activity. Yet there is a huge difference between making memories with others and not planning out a month of “must do” items. Here is a little peek into some of our summer bucket list items:

• Visit the Blue Whale.
• Campout in a backyard.
• Play T-ball

• Take lots of friends to meet Buck Atoms
• Swim as much as possible.
• See their cousins from St. Louis.
• Go to Yogi Bear Park at Keystone Lake
• Go to Safari Joe’s Water Park
• Complete the Tulsa Library Summer Reading program

• Kindness Day (Surprise people we love with random acts). According to the girls, this consists of buying people things. So we still have a bit to go of understanding that kindness can be as simple as giving someone a hug.
• See how many different things we can create with our Twig & Olive playsets. https://www.instagram.com/twig.and.olive

• Catch fireflies.
• Shoot off fireworks.

The number one thing I feel that is helping me attempt to work on my issue with time flying by is to set goals. Working towards something bigger always helps inspire me. And when I surround myself with the best people, it just inspires me more.

Our minds are even powerful if you think about memories. My brain can quickly recall happy and amazing memories. But when it comes to painful memories, my brain only recalls portions of that pain. I like to think this is the case because we cannot turn back the clock and change something. Learning and moving on is a gift of grace we all owe to ourselves.

It feels like I should give a huge shout out to all the tribe members who help me attempt to juggle time. Especially the ones who give this great gift and spend time with my kids. Truly, time is the ultimate gifts that fills up my love tank.