Happiness is... Sark

I've been in a blog rut as of late (not the most immediate late, as I've managed to include a lot of pictures from the holidays and events surrounding them), but as for real updates and the deeper things, I've been, well, too busy and too tired to gather my thoughts.  I still am - - my writing is anything but cohesive lately.  Okay, my thoughts in a normal conversation are anything but cohesive lately!  I can't even walk into a room and remember why I was there half the time. (Maybe even more often than that.)  The level of fatigue I am experiencing at the end of a day (which is never Gracie's "end" of the day!) is at an all time high... taking care of my little flock is exhausting.

It is rewarding, of course.  I am blessed to be home with my kids, of course.  I am beyond honored to mother all three of them, of course. The list of those thoughts are long.  That being said, I am tired.  I am often at my wits end.  I am impatient more times than I care to admit.  I am often unsure (ah... the "Uns") about my skill level at this job (especially when my kids are testing me to my breaking point).  I continually find myself comparing my days to the movie "Groundhog Day," for I feel (as many stay-at-home parents do, I am sure) that my life is on a constantly repeating reel.  These are not complaints; they are facts. 

I am known for not making resolutions for the new year... it sort of goes against my belief that it doesn't take turning a page on the calendar for me to make a decision to change something in my life.  It can be in the middle of a random Thursday afternoon (like when I make a concentrated effort to not lose my patience... a common mid-day resolution).  And, quite frankly, if we hinge too much on that first day of the year and our ability to be successful with whatever resolutions we make and, heaven forbid, have a bad day and/or mess with that resolution on day one (like don't overeat, blah blah blah) that we kill the tone for the new year.  And, really, forgiving ourselves for missteps and moving on is a lot easier if we realize that we can make a change at any time.

I am also NOT a fan of many things about January... again, not a secret!  When the decorations come down, the excitement in the air dissipates and we are left with the bare trees and monotony of the regular day-to-day... along with the realization that as good as the two (okay, at least three) weeks of eating whatever goodies we could get our hands on not only changed the fit of our jeans, it started a trend of wanting chocolate for breakfast and cookies for a snack.  (Oh... is that just me?!)  Anyway, in trying to work through my blog rut, in attempting to ward of the "Uns" and hopefully, to help me gather my thoughts on some bigger, pressing (and certainly blog-worthy) things, I am going to (attempt) to have a second installment of the series "Joy in January: Happiness Is."

I hope I am far more successful with this than I was with "Thankful" in November!  And, perhaps actively concentrating on a piece of happiness each day will lessen the weight of everything else - - or, at the very least, make my typical mid-day resolution of being more patient a great deal easier to achieve!

So, here we go!

Happiness Is... Sark.

I love Sark.

Before we moved, I had many of her words hanging on the walls of our playroom/computer area. My favorite piece (above) was handwritten and painted by my dear friend, Hannah. Sadly, I have not yet hung them back up since our move (along with most of our family pictures). And, in light of my need to remain calm and patient and remember that my children learn from my example and feed off of my energy, I have been taking a good, long look in the mirror. And, as I've evaluated my own behavior following some not-so-fun stuff with one of my offspring, some of these words from Sark's "How to Really Love A Child," have been playing in my head over and over. It's time to hang them back up.