Dec 30

Dec 30 rts summit, webinars, & powerful perspective

While we get ready to welcome a new year, I cannot help but reflect on my life. I also cannot help but be in a "prepare mode" or on a path of "learn all the things I can to make 2016 the best that it can be regardless of how it pans out mode." So recently I have been watching or "attending" if you will, the Rising Tide Society Summit and a couple of webinars (anyone else follow Lara Casey and Emily Ley?!). They have all been overflowing with advice, tips, & inspiration! So much so, each one leaves me driven, refreshed, & a tad give me more than the last! When people share their lives with everyone, it gives us more than inspiration, it gives us connections and an overwhelming feeling of not being alone in our own struggles. It also opens us up to finding or noticing even more perspective, everywhere else in our life too!

Right before the Rising Tide Society Summit started, we got a call that my husband's Grandpa was not doing so well. Our plans of going to see them after Christmas quickly got bumped to, go now! So away we went. When we walked into that ICU room, things felt grim and so many other personal memories flooded my mind and overwhelmed my heart. I had contacted some prayer warriors prior to us leaving, but I also selfishly stood there and thought, "please do not let us finish the year like this!" But things quickly went from grim to good (all it takes is the faith of a mustard seed right?!). The doctor had no explanation for why his Grandpa survived this tear in his heart, but said "if he took care of himself and took it easy, he could continue on to live a "normal" life." He moved to a regular room that evening and 2 days later checked out of the hospital and into a skilled nursing facility for a few days! During this trip we were in/out of both places, as well as a couple of different hotels. One day for a couple of hours we treated Alivia (who had been asking to go coincidentally) to the Wild, Wild West (cue Old Tucson for the win!) and she got to swim a couple of evenings at the hotel. As you can tell this was far from a vacation...

But this emergency trip is the one Alivia just referred to as "...you know, the vacation we just went on!" I thought wow, what a powerful perspective! Then I prayed, "Please give me the perspective of this 5 year old...To look at life far beyond how it really looks or feels! Let me see this life for what it is, not how I think it is." How many "vacations" or moments are we missing? Or maybe not missing, but overlooking and filing them away as something else? If a 5 year old can take 2 hours in the Wild, Wild West from one day and a few swims from another, and refer to the entire trip as a vacation (when the truth is, it was FAR from it), then I can find the joy in every single day, in every single situation! It is my hope that she always holds onto this outlook in life. I hope we can ALL start to see things differently...to see the opportunity in making things GREAT, even if they are only mundane.

Whew. Who knew the summit and some other webinars were going to add so much to my daily life?! I was looking for inspiration and advice, but I never expected what I got...powerful perspective EVERYWHERE else too. Happy learning friends - you might just learn more than you ever sign-up for! Huge thank you to all of the RTS Summit Contributors as well as Lara Casey and Emily Ley for always sharing not only their wisdom, but their hearts and life as well! And an even bigger thank you to our little Alivia...you continually teach ME more about this life and the way we should live it, every single day.