Today's prompt is funny, but something we all need to face: "How can you stop being an a**hole, get out of your own way and make room for more of your magic to happen in 2015?"
Daily, I struggle with how to take the patience I use at work (not always well, I might add) and carry that over to home life. And, daily, I fail epically. I should be able to treat the people I love better than my co-workers, students, customer service personnel, and random people on the street. Instead, I become a raving lunatic who snaps over very stupid things.
This next year I want to develop a loving personality. I would like people who actually know me to be able to say I have grace in abundance, am loving, understanding, and giving. If asked right now if I am any of these things, those closest to me would probably laugh themselves into an early grave. More than people who know me, I want those closest to me to be on the receiving end of these positive traits. My children need to see a mother dominated by kindness, who cherishes almost every moment of their childhoods. Above cherishing, a mother who spends copious amounts of quality time with her children, and doesn't groan when they ask to be tucked in.
And, lets face it, no matter who you are, by the time bedtime rolls around, you're tired. Reading one more story, giving one more hug, climbing up and down stairs can all seem like they're too much. Too much energy, too much loss of personal space, too much everything. In truth, though, these kids will be this age only for the very moment they are in. I (and the rest of you) will have tons of time for myself in less than 12 years. 12 very short years. I know they are short because these last 8 have gone by in what seems like a breath.
Time to stop being a jerk, and be the person I need to be for the next decade in hopes that it'll be natural after that. I do NOT want to be someone who looks back in regret on all of the missed moments and opportunities, and feels they had minimal input on who their little people turned out to be.
So, the way I shall stop being a jerk is to develop a nurturing nature of patience, kindness, grace, humility, and use it all to smile while giving one more kiss, one more hug, one more bedtime story (or stopping yet another sibling rivalry fight) as I remember today is the last day I am able to do this at this age.
Be sure to be kind to yourself too. We all stumble and fall short in so many ways because we're human. The best of us show our children that we can love ourselves anyway so that, by watching us, they see that they are worthy of love and compassion when things mess up (which they invariably do because LIFE).
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