Strength in Giving

"Strength does not lie in what you have. It lies in what you can give." ~ Yogi Tea

I have been thinking a lot lately about what gives us strength... the strength to wake up each morning and face each day... the strength to embrace the world with joy and patience, especially when things are not going as we plan or expect... the strength to be true to our own truths (whatever these might be)... the strength to forgive... the strength to move on... the strength to see beyond our own biases... the strength to live out our full potential... the strength just to be.

Isabel enjoying the water

Not a perfect picture... but a positively PERFECT MOMENT! Sheer JOY multiplied!!!

Anaïs trying to swim solo!!

 Some days/weeks when sleep deprivation is at a peaking point, the idea of getting up in the morning is dreadful... and the feeling that there just isn't enough in me to face my life and my family with the patience and the joy that I desire seems insurmountable. If i let my mind wander in this direction, everything starts to turn grey. And yet, if I can turn my perspective just a little bit and instead of feeling like I don't have enough, simply giving of what I have... it multiplies... with the smiles on the faces of my girls, with the joy that comes back from all that is around me.

And so, this simple quote i found on my tea bag today reminded me more profoundly than anything else about at least one of the sources of strength. Such a simple thought.

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And on a slightly different note... tonight as we are falling asleep Isabel made her Christmas wish list: a bicycle for Anaïs  (it has always been her pattern to think of something for her sister first); a dolly (seriously, another one?!?!); and an electric guitar ("so i can learn to play 'Hells Bells'" - by AC/DC... her papa's great influence). A brief pause, and then she asks: "Is Santa Clause real?" We managed to postpone our reply due to the late bedtime hour... completely unprepared for this kind of question from our FOUR YEAR OLD!!! I still believe in Santa Clause when I was 12?!? I know, i know, i was a naïve kid!!