When Life Knocks the Wind Out of You

It’s been a big couple of weeks in our household.

It started with a beautiful week of skiing, followed by a head cold that left me wiped out. Then just to top things off I accidentally poked myself in the eye so badly I ended up in emergency. And just as I began to feel like myself again, my family was hit with a full-blown flu wave.

That’s when things got serious.

My daughter began fainting every time she stood up. After several scary episodes, and a trip to the children's hospital, we learned that she has an underlying condition called POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), the Flu was just making the symptoms much more pronounced. 

All my carefully laid plans my client commitments, project timelines, and deadlines became impossible to meet.

To say I felt overwhelmed would be an understatement.

If you know me, you know that letting others down is something I really struggle with. Add to that my deep-seated (and yes, sometimes flawed) desire to please everyone and you get a version of me who keeps saying “yes” long after I should have said “not right now.”

There were days I just had to sit with my daughter because she didn’t want to be alone. Those moments gave me time to think maybe too much time

And here’s what I was reminded of:
Life happens.
Plans go out the window. Things fall apart. People get sick. You miss things. You drop the ball. And it’s okay.

What matters most is how we communicate through it.

We can’t manage everything. But we can let people know what’s going on, how it might affect them, and what we’re doing about it. And maybe just maybe we can let go of the expectation to do it all perfectly.

In our house, we’ve had early nights.
We’ve eaten toast for dinner.
We’ve defrosted meals I had prepped months ago.
And I’ve decided to be okay with it all.

No, I didn’t nail everything these past two weeks.
But I did do the most important part well.

I comforted my daughter.
I kept her safe.
I showed up for the people who needed me most.
I nourished us the best I could.

And that’s enough.