I’ve started to believe that one of the greatest gifts in life is an ability to be grateful for what we have in the moment.
I had a realization recently that I spent the better part of last year being ungrateful. There was a lot of self-pity and doubt, a lot of woe is me. I attribute it to the tipping point I had reached in my life: my inability to find a way to make it work in the Bay Area, an acceptance of my identity as a mother — maybe even primarily so, for the time being, and some other personal obstacles I won’t get into here. The bottom line is that I spent a lot of energy being frustrated and angry. Sometimes with no one in particular, sometimes with myself, and sometimes with other people.
The babies turned 7 months old a few days ago, and Neko has become a person who talks and has opinions and is generally pretty likable (save the classic toddler tantrums). I’ve started to fall into a new routine: a steady stream of consulting and freelance work, recipe testing and photography, my new obsession Core Power Yoga, and mothering. I will admit that I still often feel unsteady in this new life and this new role as a mother of three. But the one thing I’m damn proud of is my newfound ability to be grateful for the things that are important in the moment. I find myself looking at my babies’ faces for a long period of time and studying their little hairs and smooth skin. I examine all the new flowers that are in bloom in our backyard.
I try to smell all the flowers. Because I have discovered that their season is brief.
As Mother’s Day approaches, I am reminded again that I am grateful for my people.
