Updated on February 19, 2022
I’m faking it till I get it right.
So many things in this life aren’t black and white. If fact, the older I get the more I’m convinced we live in a mostly grey block. One that shifts and molds over time with experience and discovered truths. When I was … I was sure that… Yeah, there are a lot of things that can fill in those voids. Most of us have a long list of things that we were sure were right. My marriage, my parenting, my friendships, my food choices, my time, my money, my …
So, I’m faking it. Yeah, you read that right. I’m faking it. So is everybody else. I’m going to walk with my head high and a smile on my face. I’m going to find joy in the adventure. I’m going to speak with confidence. I’m going to act with courage. I’m going to fake it till I get it right.
See, no one with a 2-year-old is an expert. You’re an expert before you have one and after they turn 10. Before they came, I read all the books. I knew all the things. I was going to get it right. I did e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g I was suppose too. Guess what, they still screamed and said “NO”. Now they are all over 10. I remember some things that worked better than others. But we’re not talking a magic solution. More like, I remember this one time I did x-y-z and they stopped. Life is funny though, I had the next baby and guess what…that’s right, it didn’t work. Something else worked. Because no two of us are the same.
My marriage, same thing, I’m faking it. 20 years I’ve been pretending to know what I was doing. That’s basically a masters in, I love you. I hate you. Forgive me, Let’s get pizza for dinner. …Do we have a great marriage, yes. Could it be better, yes, things can always improve.
We all walk around with the grand notion that the person next to us has it all figured out. They don’t. Today make the best choice you can. Find joy in your adventure. Do it with the assurance that when you know better, you’ll do better.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas A Edison
Updated on January 3, 2018
Super Powers
We live in a world that defines us by the diagnosis we receive. Most everyone has one. If you don’t, I’m sure a quick google search of your daily troubles could produce a selection of choices for you to pick from. My house is full of kids with labels, lots and lots of labels. They range from the minor little things you would never notice to the major life adjusting kind.
My kids will have to live with these labels for the rest of their lives. Some of their labels will never be known by others but some will have to be shared in order for “normal” life to happen. However, I never want their labels to be an area of fear or judgement, or even a reason of embarrassment or shame.
My daughter said something to me the other day, something that changed the way I saw her. She has a heart defect. One that is barely noticed aside from the yearly visit to the cardiologist and the extra sound her heart flutters. As an infant, while nursing her in the quiet of the night, you could hear it, swishing ever so softly. As she grew, it got louder, until she was big enough it could only be heard by holding her close. Now I have to rest my head on her heart to hear a glimpse of the flutter. Some day it may be gone and I am oddly sad about this. It has become a part of who she is.
You see when she came running up to me she very proudly declared, “Do you know my heart has an extra beep?”
“Yes, it does.” I said with a beaming smile.
“That’s where I get all my energy from.” And with her statement she was off and running again.
The extra beep wasn’t going to slow her down, it was going to speed her up. It was going to be the source of her energy, not the reason to stop.
I have been thinking about this all week. If every child could see their faults, their brokenness, the things that label them as the source of their super power, we could live in an amazing world. A world that would be changed by love.
As I awoke this morning, I pondered the ways in which I could help our kids use the labels of life as their super powers. To let it define their character for the good. To help them see it as a gift, their gift.