This week has been hard. I feel drained and tired from busyness at work and home. A friend had her foster child taken away. Another friend is worried that her friend's boyfriend is abusive. Paul and I have been picking fights like siblings. And I'm pretty sure little minions are sneaking inside my room every night and shrinking my pants (because it couldn't possibly be all the ice cream I've been eating that is causing them not to fit).
And all this is on top of the grief and sadness we're still dealing with. On top of the stress of living away from both of our families and many of our good friends. On top of the uncertainty of not knowing what city we'll settle down in.
BUT. And here's the big but. Even though life is hard, it is still so good.
The weather has been so gorgeous. The colors in our neighborhood look like they could have been painted by someone. Our neighbors love our beagles and are magically tolerating their howling. I met a dog named Seinfeld this morning. We have built a wonderful Milwaukee community that is very life giving. I have a colorful $5 bouquet of flowers brightening my office. I found all the tomatoes for our canning workshop this weekend for $25 (photos to come next week). My acupuncture appointment made my shoulders feel a million times better. I love my job. I was able to tell a person without health insurance (and with a terrible heart condition) that he could buy affordable insurance January 1. Fro-yo is amazing.
Accepting the reality that life is both hard and good is part of the reason I started this blog. I had developed a bad habit of focusing on the hard and forgetting the good, and it was turning me bitter. Blogging has been helpful over the past month especially - when I have felt angry and annoyed at the world, but I can still pull it together enough to write a positive post. The practice has been good for my well being and overall happiness.
And that is all I have to say this week. I hope you have had a great week and can think of a few things that have been positive. And as always, hope you have a fantastic weekend!
I learned to focus on the positive in my blogging from Emily over at Today's Letters. I highly recommend her blog. Another few blogs that are excellent at this: Love Taza, Say Yes! Change Things, and Petal and Plume. They always put me in a good mood. Do you have any blogs that make you happy?