Your children are not "your children"

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

~ Kahlil Gibran

When a child is a newborn it is fairly easy to delude yourself into thinking that the above poem doesn't apply to you.  You feel like you sarcrificed, you endured what you never dreamed you were capable of, you lost sleep, maybe you even lost your mind for a little while...but all the while you thought it was worth it because your baby, your son, that perfect little version of yourself and your love was yours forever.  As time marches on, it is easier and easier to see the truth.  As my son's 2nd birthday has just pased, I marvel that he is his own little man.  He is smart, he is kind, he is a gentle soul, he is funny, he is sometimes wild, he is unique...but he's not mine. I'm his mother and I will love, encourage, and support him until my last breath and beyond. But he has his own thoughts and potential and ideas...that will likely continue to diverge from my own with each passing year.  Regardless, being a mother and having a new soul come through you is a gift.

To my Hudson Aaron - Mommy loves you.

A birthday is just the start of another 365-day journey around the sun.  Enjoy the trip.  ~Author Unknown

Happy Birthday to my baby boy, 2 years old today!  It has been a wonderful, challenging, life changing joy of a journey and I can't wait for the next 365 days!

Persuit of Happiness 2011

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. ~ Elisabeth Gilbert

Hello 2011. I am sure happy to see you!  While 2010 certainly held some valuable lessons around acceptance of things beyond my control and unconditional love, I almost feel lighter with these 'lessons' being firmly housed in 'last year'.  This year, I am open to a lighter, more joyous persuit of happiness, with more time spent thinking about all the great things happening NOW. Rather than the good/bad/ugly stuff that happened before or that may be lurking around the corner.  I am going to keep swimming upward into the happiness and maybe with a little practice, this year it won't feel like so much work!

I hope the universe shows you and me both with it's infinite goodness and light this year.