THE CHALLENGE:

In 2012 we challenged you to write 12 letters of Gratitude to people that influenced your life. Many of you did this and wrote amazing stories of the experience.
This year 2013 we are focusing on BEING PRESENT. This is your life. Each day is a gift. You can't turn in yesterday for more time. So make the most of each day and continue to be grateful and embrace life! Be Present! We are changing the world...ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Forest OR the Trees...

You know that old saying... They can't see the forest for the trees?  Years ago I used it and one of my children inquired about the meaning.  So here is the best description I found online (actually two that I combined.)

It is meant as an analogy and really has NOTHING to do with forests or trees.  The point is that I am sometimes so focused on the small things (trees), the details, the trials or challenges, or even...THE BUSY WORK in life, that I can't see the Big Picture (Forest)...the vision, the plan, the goal, the eternal destination of my life.  Can anyone relate?

This was me recently...
In my great desire to reach out and make a difference this year I created The Butterfly Project.  This project was meant to get people REACHING OUT.  I have received some of the most amazing letters from people that have done just that.  Interestingly enough some anticipated the promise I make at the end of each Butterfly Project blog post:  We are changing the world...ONE letter at a time.  Where did they anticipate this change...in others.  They expected that hearts would melt, soften or be touched by the letters.  In many cases this has been spot on.  Hearts have softened and relationships have deepened.  But often that has not been the case.  Still some reported change inspite of that.  So where did the change occur?  Transformation took place within.  The birth of this idea accompanied a quote I discovered by Ghandi:  You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

I began this project with a not so altruistic goal in mind.  But I did HAVE a goal, and I still DO!  My goal was to be less selfish, more grateful, less judgmental, more praising, less critical, more uplifting.  Do I believe that ME changing in my little corner of the world can make a difference?  Yes, YES, Y E S...I DO!!!  Why?  How?  I have thought of these questions over and over again.  I have an answer for you.  I truly believe in the power of ONE!  I believe that ONE life can change the world, or at least a  part of the world, a large part of the world.

My grandfather was a carpenter.  He was a gentle spirit and an amazing man.  I love him and still miss him (missing that has been going on nearly 26 years).  When he was 17 he probably should have died in a major car accident.  His neck was broken, the car was a pile of rubble.  When help finally arrived on the dirt country road he sat up, held his head together and told them his name, then passed out, or so I am told.  We are talking 1929.  He missed school, graduated late and was never allowed to serve in the military.  We all know now of the war that ensued.  So maybe, just maybe that accident that everyone cursed was really a tender mercy.  His brother "Worry Wart" as I know him, didn't come home from the war.  Call it divine intervention, call it fate, or destiny...call it what you will.  What I KNOW is that my grandfather went on to marry my grandmother.  They have 4 children, but two died full term because of Rh factor.  It is a miracle that my mother lived, she was the second child and her brother and she both have positive blood.  For anyone that knows the ins and outs of Rh factor they understand that this meant NO blood from my grandma's first birth crossed over, or my mother could not have survived.  Today Rh factor is a moot point.  Anyone with access to modern medicine takes a rather painful shot (I know) and that is about the end of it.  Thank heaven for modern medicine and for the tender mercies that brought my grandfather through the jaws of death, and saved my mother from the jaws of death.

When my mother died we filled a church.  But it didn't begin to represent the lives she touched.  She was an elementary school librarian for 18 years.  She LOVED books, loved reading, loved children.  In the years she was there she would go out of her way to memorize children's names.  Contests ensued  for rewards based on reading and she lit up the room with stories read allowed.  Often she stayed late and without pay, filing so that while the children were there...she was PRESENT.  She was available and able to fully influence these precious minds.  To say that she influenced 14,000 children over the years is a conservative estimate.  This is an ordinary woman like me.  But she really wasn't ordinary to anyone that knew her...to them she was extraordinary.  To me, she was the world.  And living in the world without her has been very difficult.

This has lead to my epiphany.  Mother's Day has become one of the most bittersweet days of my life.  I have the supernal joy of five little ones, and the shadow of mom's absense.  I vaccilate between the two.  With the depressed state I let myself get into the past couple of weeks I just kind of checked out.  My house swam in the chores I didn't do.  My husband is so patient and knows that I usually shake it off by June and saying something does not make matters better.  So he silently walked around me doing all he could (likely on egg shells).  Then I started delving into a book my T.F.F. Ethel told me about.  Here is a link to it Teaching Self Government by Nicholeen Peck.  I am only a couple chapters into the book but I have had to ask myself some hard questions...

What is my family vision?
Where do I see myself in 20 years?
Where do I see my kids?
What kind of feeling do I want in our home?

I don't want to focus on the "trees of my life"  anymore.  For me it is going to be about the Forest.  The big picture.   And all the little things I used to worry about, I am going to learn to let go.  The only little things I need to focus on now are the little things that lead to my Big Picture.  Because the only way to eat an elephant is a bite at a time.  And the only way to reach my 20 year vision of what I want my life to be like in 2032 is one bite at a time.

What conclusion did I come to?  I watch too much T.V.  I do too much facebook.  I check too many emails.  And I might even spend too much time blogging.  I am not sure about that one, and I may keep this blogging thing as my last string to connect me to the "real world."  But the REAL WORLD I want is a happy home and that world is NOT as elusive or imaginary as "the World" makes it out to be.  On Sunday one of the speakers in our congregation said,  "How do children spell love?  T.I.M.E."  So I won't be as frequently on Facebook, emails, Pinterest or the likes.  I will pop in and out...but I am going to connect to the people who MY CHANGE can effect the VERY MOST.  Why?  Because when I am dead someday, I want my children to feel like I was a huge part of their world...and without me there is a hole.  I hope I will teach them to deal with the grief better than I am...but I do want to live so they will miss me immensely.  I hope you continue to reach out, to write your letters.  I will!  I WILL!

P.S.  We really can change the world...ONE letter at a time!

8 comments:

  1. Lovely blog post!
    I;m also working on being a more Hands Free Mama-meaning less devices in my hands and being really present for my children and husband :)

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  2. All my children are gone from my home and I am living in your 20 year span of the future. So proud of my children and their families. I know my children love me and are grateful for spending the first 18 years of their lives with me. How do you rate success? They are growing, changing, becoming better every day. We never stop growing, learning, changing, this is our eternal process. Someone once told me that it does not matter where we are on the ladder as long as our direction is upward. I read a book titled "Odds Are Your Going to be Exsulted" the message in this book has changed my life. Gods Plan is inclusive, not exclusive. He wants us all home. I look at others differently and I know the odds are on my side. I was one of the first mothers in 1969 to receive the RH factor shot after my son Larry was born. Odds are good, God really loves us and where I fail , after all I've done to do my best, God and Jesus Christ will fill in my short comings with GRACE. Enjoy the ride.

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  3. @ The Mom...That is awesome! I think you are a great Mother and wife! @ my Auntie Vee... I love you. Thank you for being an example to me. Your children are blessed and lucky to have a mother that loves them so much!

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  4. Dearest Christine, you are not ordinary, not common, simple or even regular. You are, and continue to be, one of a kind, having muliple talents, colorful, taking chances when others quit. You are never finished with the task at hand, one more bow, one more added word to make something special even better. My husband and I make our goals every year in January. We review them every few months to see ehere we are headed. We change our direction often because nothing stays the same. Loved ones die leaving holes in our lives but new family friends and those already in our lives change. We see things different today then we did yesterday. We open our mind, heart and soul to not only new things but change our purspective because of change. I find it strange how we learn to love those that have passed even more once they are gone, how is that possible not having them here with us? Our willingness to change what we thought was set in stone...our hearts. We are moving upward on that ladder, on goal, one change at a T.I.M.E. We can not do it all at once or even do it all. I found my place to start, that was the hardest first step ever in my life. Your awesome, you find the good in others no matter how hard it is at times to struggle through the clutter. First step willingness to try. I am proud of your willingness to try something no matter the size. You have done something good here for not only others but for yourself. Put the goals into acction but be willing to redirect them if needed with change. I think you should continue your blog, forr all of us and for you. My children do love me and their love grows, changes and is never ending even after I put this mortal body of mine to rest. They will think about me forever...ever changing with new purspectivees they did not notice until the right moment. Your children will find the wonderful, amazing you as the years pass because you are willing to change the not so good for the most important....one step at a T.I.M.E...YOUR A AWESOME WIFE, MOTHER DAUGHTER, SISTER, NEICE, A FRIEND.Love you, Aunt Vee

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dearest Christine, you are not ordinary, not common, simple or even regular. You are, and continue to be, one of a kind, having muliple talents, colorful, taking chances when others quit. You are never finished with the task at hand, one more bow, one more added word to make something special even better. My husband and I make our goals every year in January. We review them every few months to see ehere we are headed. We change our direction often because nothing stays the same. Loved ones die leaving holes in our lives but new family friends and those already in our lives change. We see things different today then we did yesterday. We open our mind, heart and soul to not only new things but change our purspective because of change. I find it strange how we learn to love those that have passed even more once they are gone, how is that possible not having them here with us? Our willingness to change what we thought was set in stone...our hearts. We are moving upward on that ladder, on goal, one change at a T.I.M.E. We can not do it all at once or even do it all. I found my place to start, that was the hardest first step ever in my life. Your awesome, you find the good in others no matter how hard it is at times to struggle through the clutter. First step willingness to try. I am proud of your willingness to try something no matter the size. You have done something good here for not only others but for yourself. Put the goals into acction but be willing to redirect them if needed with change. I think you should continue your blog, forr all of us and for you. My children do love me and their love grows, changes and is never ending even after I put this mortal body of mine to rest. They will think about me forever...ever changing with new purspectivees they did not notice until the right moment. Your children will find the wonderful, amazing you as the years pass because you are willing to change the not so good for the most important....one step at a T.I.M.E...YOUR A AWESOME WIFE, MOTHER DAUGHTER, SISTER, NEICE, A FRIEND.Love you, Aunt Vee

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dearest Christine, you are not ordinary, not common, simple or even regular. You are, and continue to be, one of a kind, having muliple talents, colorful, taking chances when others quit. You are never finished with the task at hand, one more bow, one more added word to make something special even better. My husband and I make our goals every year in January. We review them every few months to see ehere we are headed. We change our direction often because nothing stays the same. Loved ones die leaving holes in our lives but new family friends and those already in our lives change. We see things different today then we did yesterday. We open our mind, heart and soul to not only new things but change our purspective because of change. I find it strange how we learn to love those that have passed even more once they are gone, how is that possible not having them here with us? Our willingness to change what we thought was set in stone...our hearts. We are moving upward on that ladder, on goal, one change at a T.I.M.E. We can not do it all at once or even do it all. I found my place to start, that was the hardest first step ever in my life. Your awesome, you find the good in others no matter how hard it is at times to struggle through the clutter. First step willingness to try. I am proud of your willingness to try something no matter the size. You have done something good here for not only others but for yourself. Put the goals into acction but be willing to redirect them if needed with change. I think you should continue your blog, forr all of us and for you. My children do love me and their love grows, changes and is never ending even after I put this mortal body of mine to rest. They will think about me forever...ever changing with new purspectivees they did not notice until the right moment. Your children will find the wonderful, amazing you as the years pass because you are willing to change the not so good for the most important....one step at a T.I.M.E...YOUR A AWESOME WIFE, MOTHER DAUGHTER, SISTER, NEICE, A FRIEND.Love you, Aunt Vee

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dearest Christine, you are not ordinary, not common, simple or even regular. You are, and continue to be, one of a kind, having muliple talents, colorful, taking chances when others quit. You are never finished with the task at hand, one more bow, one more added word to make something special even better. My husband and I make our goals every year in January. We review them every few months to see ehere we are headed. We change our direction often because nothing stays the same. Loved ones die leaving holes in our lives but new family friends and those already in our lives change. We see things different today then we did yesterday. We open our mind, heart and soul to not only new things but change our purspective because of change. I find it strange how we learn to love those that have passed even more once they are gone, how is that possible not having them here with us? Our willingness to change what we thought was set in stone...our hearts. We are moving upward on that ladder, on goal, one change at a T.I.M.E. We can not do it all at once or even do it all. I found my place to start, that was the hardest first step ever in my life. Your awesome, you find the good in others no matter how hard it is at times to struggle through the clutter. First step willingness to try. I am proud of your willingness to try something no matter the size. You have done something good here for not only others but for yourself. Put the goals into acction but be willing to redirect them if needed with change. I think you should continue your blog, forr all of us and for you. My children do love me and their love grows, changes and is never ending even after I put this mortal body of mine to rest. They will think about me forever...ever changing with new purspectivees they did not notice until the right moment. Your children will find the wonderful, amazing you as the years pass because you are willing to change the not so good for the most important....one step at a T.I.M.E...YOUR A AWESOME WIFE, MOTHER DAUGHTER, SISTER, NEICE, A FRIEND.Love you, Aunt Vee

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dearest Christine, you are not ordinary, not common, simple or even regular. You are, and continue to be, one of a kind, having muliple talents, colorful, taking chances when others quit. You are never finished with the task at hand, one more bow, one more added word to make something special even better. My husband and I make our goals every year in January. We review them every few months to see ehere we are headed. We change our direction often because nothing stays the same. Loved ones die leaving holes in our lives but new family friends and those already in our lives change. We see things different today then we did yesterday. We open our mind, heart and soul to not only new things but change our purspective because of change. I find it strange how we learn to love those that have passed even more once they are gone, how is that possible not having them here with us? Our willingness to change what we thought was set in stone...our hearts. We are moving upward on that ladder, on goal, one change at a T.I.M.E. We can not do it all at once or even do it all. I found my place to start, that was the hardest first step ever in my life. Your awesome, you find the good in others no matter how hard it is at times to struggle through the clutter. First step willingness to try. I am proud of your willingness to try something no matter the size. You have done something good here for not only others but for yourself. Put the goals into acction but be willing to redirect them if needed with change. I think you should continue your blog, forr all of us and for you. My children do love me and their love grows, changes and is never ending even after I put this mortal body of mine to rest. They will think about me forever...ever changing with new purspectivees they did not notice until the right moment. Your children will find the wonderful, amazing you as the years pass because you are willing to change the not so good for the most important....one step at a T.I.M.E...YOUR A AWESOME WIFE, MOTHER DAUGHTER, SISTER, NEICE, A FRIEND.Love you, Aunt Vee

    ReplyDelete