Oldest daughter went to church with his family this morning, and visited his aunt in the hospital afterward. I think they're sort of bummed and need a distraction, so they'll be here for dinner and Downton Abbey later on. A low-key night. His aunt is very ill with a wretched form of cancer, and sadly, when our daughter gets texts and phone calls at odd times, I'm always wondering if it's "the call."
And on top of that, we heard that the grand-daughter of our elderly neighbor who just died had a stroke this week. She's only in her thirties, but has MS, so life is hard enough as it is. She's paralyzed on her left side, and while I don't know details, hope she's able to fully recover.
Makes me pause and look at my life and wonder at all the crap (pardon me) we fill our lives with. I add into that category all the stuff like extensive schooling for kids, mindless shopping, wasted time in being Marthas, and just anything that makes us tense. I get aggravated at my own life and my inability to just slow down. And with my history of migraines, I definitely need to get a grip on stress. Rarely do I feel completely relaxed. You know what I mean. Even now if I move my fingers from the keys, I have to take a deep breath to appreciate the quiet. It's got to stop. Really.
But the world is always at our backs to do more, and do it now. It takes a concerted effort to turn away from that mentality. To plan my time during the day so I'm not always running around, but know how to seek pleasure as well. Shoot, maybe my Lenten focus should be on letting go of the rat race that's in my head. To really apply myself to focusing on what's important, not just for my family, but for me. Might think about that.....
