The good things in life.

the good things in life, boston marathon, finding hope, parenting, family, Canadian mom blogger,
The good things in life.

Yesterday I came home the full intention of writing an angry blog post. It’s not my usual style, but sometimes things just piss me off. I wanted to share my frustration over the sad, sorry state of our world. I wanted to reiterate, like so many other people did, just how fed up I am with humanity. How sometimes I really feel I want to pull a Waldan, and move to a cabin in the woods.

All of those things are true. I am frustrated. I am fed up. Sometimes I just want to leave it all behind.

Yet as angry as I am, by the time I sat down and write this late last night, I had already had dozens of reminders of just how truly blessed I am. My daughter’s warm smile, my husbands firm hug and receiving confirmation of one of my childhood dreams come true, were all perfectly timed to remind me to celebrate the good things in life.

My daughter, the intuitive little angel that she is, can always sense when something is bothering me. My nearly smothering hugs and constantly repeating “I love you” probably give me away. Just like after Newtown, I was as honest with her as I could be. I told her someone very bad had hurt lots of other people today. She told me that’s bad and that they needed to go to timeout.

If only it were that simple.

By the time we got home a few moments later she had brushed it off and moved on with her life. She ran off to play and I had to remind my self to make dinner, instead of watching her play for hours like I wanted to.

I wish we could all have the resiliency of our children. They understand that bad things happen and they can feel sad along with the rest of the world, but mere moments later they can find a reason to smile again. As adults, our emotions take much longer to bounce back, but our kids can help give us that gentle reminder that life moves on. Tragedy strikes in an alarming succession these days, but it doesn’t have to cripple us. It shouldn’t cripple us.

We can’t let the anger overshadow the good things in life.

I understand that this might be easier for me to say. I’m tucked away in a small Canadian town, so far removed from yesterday’s events. I can only imagine the impact and weight that Americans and especially those in Boston, are feeling right now. However I believe that this message of resiliency and hope was present all over the scenes of yesterday.

Mixed in with the fear, anger and confusion, there was an overwhelmingly beautiful amount of strength. From the images of the first responders and volunteers, to the unbelievable public outcry of support that came from all corners of our planet. Hope, love and the good things in life, were everywhere if you just looked for them.

This underlying message of looking for the good in the bad, was ringing loudly from many people online yesterday. It is a lesson I want to ensure I nurture in my daughter’s heart, many years from now, when she starts to grow away from that innocence of being a child. I hope that I can pass along my idealistic nature and that she can see beyond the evil in our society. There is so much beauty to be found there.

Ideally speaking, the victims of this senseless crime, along with their families, will one day be able to move on and celebrate the good things in life again. 

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