I was looking back on some of my old blogs today, and it was quite interesting. Of course, a major theme over these past two years that I’ve kept this thing is how nutty my life has been, juggling school and work and the rest of life. What I also noticed, however, was that every few months I would write a “cocoon” blog where I would talk about hiding out for 24-48 hours, being quiet, recharging my batteries, and then reemerging more energetic than before.
Sometimes we don’t notice a pattern in the midst of our actions, but it takes reflection… some context… to realize we’ve been there before. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with hiding out for a day or two (much better in my opinion than spiraling into a depression, which is absolutely NOT what I do when I rest), but it also serves as a neon flashing arrow that points to times in my life when I am overdoing it. And I tend to overdo it, because I don’t want to miss out on any of the fun that’s there to be had. I want to do it all, to live a full and meaningful life. But I have to continually force myself to slow down a bit. Those cocoon times are some of the sweetest times for me, because they’re so rare and different. I thoroughly enjoyed last week, where I went to bed early every night, read lot’s of my book (Wuthering Heights… loving it), and didn’t really talk to anybody except for work folks and my family. By Friday’s Christmas party, I was rearing to go! I’m back with the living, and back with a renewed zeal. Heck, I’m even working out again! I decided to jumpstart those New Year’s resolutions about three weeks early.
So enough of that. Tonight I worked on my Christmas cards. I’m about a week behind in all of my Christmas activities, but I suspect everybody else is too, and I’m choosing to employ our famous family motto of “good enough” on this one. People will be getting cards, signed with love, and it won’t matter much that they may arrive just a few days before Christmas. I figure anything that hits homes before Dec. 31 totally counts.
Speaking of family mottos… my family has the best family mottos. And we sure have a lot. Here’s just a few that you probably hear me throw down in casual conversation on a regular basis:
Good enough
definition: Stop being an overachiever!
Get over it!
Emphasis on the OVER… usually accompanied with a snap or head bob. We usually say this in reference to other people outside the family.
Don’t waste the pretty.
definition: Giiirrrl, time to get over him, because either (a) you need to dump the poor boy because he’s no good for you, or (b) he’s just not that into you, he’s never going to date you, so move on to someone else! You can imagine my euphoria when I found out last week titled Don’t waste the pretty. Awesome.
Let it go, and let it flow.
definition: Similar to “good enough” but also means that it’s time to stop trying to control something and just let things happen as they may. Contrary to popular belief, this has nothing to do with going to the bathroom.
Keep hope alive.
(this is always, always accompanied by a fist pump)
Mama’s gotta eat.
A term used when you have to do something you don’t love at work, but you keep on keeping on because you want to keep said job.
I can sell you ugly, but I will not sell you dumb.
This one doesn’t really need defining.
Stupid boy.
This is one my dad likes to sing to us whenever any guy does anything wrong… quoting the Keith Urban lyrics. Just one of the many reasons why our dad is absolutely adorable.
So that’s it. When the six of us get together, we spout these babies off every other sentence. The more head bobbing and snapping the better.