Healthy Choices = Healthy You

So 2015 has started off quiet, but I have been on a focused and determined state of mind. I am so grateful to walk into 2015 in my right frame of my mind and for the most part I am in great physical condition too! Although I did gain 8lbs. over the holidays 😦 , I don’t have any new chronic diseases or injuries. I have so many SIGNIFICANT milestones coming up this year and the last thing that I am is lucky, instead I am tremendously BLESSED!

In 2014, I resolved to be pregnancy free, lol, but seriously, my body and mind, along with our budget needed a break from having babies..Yep, that is what having almost Irish twins gets ya, teehee..But seriously that is the first time that I have ever kept a New Year’s Resolution, but for 2015 I have decided to do something different. I have challenged myself to base my year around a single word that would represent an ongoing theme. This challenge was encouraged by a dear friend and I am so glad she thought of sharing it.

My word for 2015 is #new! In 2015 I am speaking newness (<—that’s not a word, lol) into every area of my life. My relationship with God, my husband, my children, my loved ones and even strangers will be new. My finances, my career, my health, my attitude and basically all of me will be new. New in a good way, in a great way! But, the only way that any of this can come to be with God before me I also have to make a conscious decision and choose to walk in my “newness”. I am grateful that God gives us free will to choose, so that we aren’t his little robots, but even if you don’t walk on that journey close to Him, if you want to live a life of greatness the only logical way there, is to choose your perspective/your reactions to events and people, especially those unfavorable ones.

We can’t control or change the views or actions of others. Trust me sometimes I wish I had a magic wand to do so, lol, but once I accepeted that I only have control over my thoughts and actions my stress levels decreased and I started taking better care of myself.

Your mentality affects your physicality as does your physicality to your mentality, SO HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CHOOSE IN 2015?!?!?? I hope and pray you choose well because as long as you are still breathing you have the opportunity to live a purposeful life even in the midst of a hectic schedule, juggling parenthood and your career, or simply going through significant changes..SO as you LIVE ON PURPOSE, CHOOSE ON PURPOSE!

“Their Cries”

Sometimes my children like to tag team me with what seems like endless crying. It used to overwhelm me, but I have learned how to manage it. My son, who recently turned two, would cry and startle his 8mth.old sister, who in turn would suddenly start crying too. As his cries would get louder so would hers. I don’t believe her tears were compassionate tears for his unhappiness, but instead were tears of concern and fear for herself. But, hey you never know, children have their own language, so I’ve heard from many parents. And then there were times my daughter would cry and because she’s an infant that is her only way to express a need. A need to nurse, a need for a clean diaper, to express that she is in pain, a desire for love and affection, etc. All of a sudden my son would begin to cry. His tears seemed to be based on competing for attention because he feels neglected. So, there were times I would hold my 2yo, who has a build of a 4yo, on one hip and hold my baby girl on the other hip. It was a good workout for my arms, but began to take a toll on my back, so I no longer do it as often. Instead while seated I hold one in each arm and the tears stop.

However before I began “managing it”, I would often feel frustrated, annoyed and inadequate as their mom. I KNOW, I KNOW, my feelings of inadequacy were DRAMATIC, but it’s the honest truth of how I felt. Many moms don’t give themselves enough credit on the exceptional job they are doing, but instead are their own worst critic. I am guilty of this crime, lol, but everyday I make a conscious effort to tell myself something positive,count my children as blessings and declare that I could very well be a better mom, but I am just enough for them right now.

I also remind myself that their cries tell me I am better than blessed. While my children “tag team” me and cry, sometimes they may even scream for what seems to be for no apparent reason, somewhere there are women who are crying and sometimes screaming out because they miscarry:(, they have had a stillborn baby, they have medical conditions that affect their ability to conceive, their partner cannot medically conceive a child, etc. When my children have crying fits that sound like someone is hurting them and are piercing to my ears and sometimes my sanity, somewhere there are women who are hurting themselves even committing suicide because they are overcome with sadness. Sadness that pierces their heart, their sanity because they can’t have a child. When I am straining to hold my son and my daughter in each arm, there is some woman somewhere who would do anything to have a child in their arms that is healthy, breathing and even crying. The tears of my children are expressions, language, their communication to tell momma their heart’s desire and needs. THEIR TEARS REPRESENT LIFE.

Crying never hurt nobody! It does just the opposite, it is a release, it is a form of letting go, and often gets the person who is crying the attention they need to address their problem.

So my way of managing their tears is to say with a smile, “Ok you two, momma only has two hands, one at a time” and they look at me, sometimes the crying stops, sometimes the crying gets louder, sometimes the crying turns to sobs and whimper and then sometimes they surprise me and smile. A woman with tears and cries of pain of no children would trade me any day for tears and cries of a child. Even more so I have 2 children, a boy and a girl, what many people call the best of both worlds. So I am blessed! I am not writing this post to show off, but instead I am saying I am simply grateful, undeserving and favored with my heritage, my rewards, my precious gems from my Lord and Saviour. I won’t sit here and say that I no longer get frustrated, annoyed and sometimes overwhelmed by what seems like endless crying, I’m human after all, and let’s face it, for some interesting reason God has blessed these little people with some powerful vocal cords,lol, so ignoring is often not an option. However, I am saying that children are gifts of God and our responsibility to and/or for them is to take the whole package, the good and the not so good, e.g.endless crying, but God never gives us more than we can bear. Some days I watch what I go through most of the day through my husband’s tiresome and sometimes frantic eyes and stressful expressions, I can’t help but to ask myself “How do I DO IT”?!?!!! And the answer is simply, God’s Grace, He does it through me. Imperfect me. He chose me for such an influential and significant role for these 2 and I ought not take it lightly. I am no different than the childless tearful woman, I have other “stuff” that makes me tearful, so I will embrace my children and their tears because THEY HAVE LIFE!