January
04
Seeing Abundance
I had a beautiful moment this evening that hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve always thought that happiness isn’t found in winning the lottery or having great achievements as much as it is contentment with how you’ve spent your time and energies. It’s that Sheryl Crow line “It’s not getting what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got.”
So tonight I’m not feeling great and I’m coming down with a cold. It’s my turn to drive our daughter Sophie to her Sunday night indoor soccer game at a VERY loud facility. This team hasn’t won a game in months and typically only wins a couple of times a year. A teammate up the street often rides with us and we talk from time to time. She’s a truly lovely girl and I’m glad that she’s on Sophie’s team.
I ask her about her Christmas as I’m driving and suddenly she asks if I’ve made any New Year’s Resolutions. I’m kind of stunned and touched that she asks and I share with her what I hope to do in the New Year. She tells me her resolutions as well.
After the game I offer to take the girls and another teammate to a nearby Whole Foods for dinner on the way home. Knowing that they rarely get to celebrate wins, I give Sophie some money and tell her after dinner that they can all go find some dessert.
They soon come back with a pint of Talenti ice cream that they want to split. They are very excited because it’s not something they get often. As I watch them all dig with 3 spoons into this ice cream, I see them having so much fun laughing and asking me to take pictures of them.
It sounds so simple but I feel in this moment so lucky. I see abundance. I don’t think about my cold. I don’t think about the fact that I’ve spent another Sunday night watching them lose. I don’t think about how much work is waiting for me tomorrow. I think about how glad I am that I can afford to buy these girls dinner and a pint of ice cream. I think about how lucky I am to have a healthy child. I think about how glad I am that neither our daughter nor her friends are sullen or suffer from “teen angst.” Yet. I think about how glad I am that they’ve got a good perspective on winning and losing and just enjoy the game. I think about their teammate (a girl I’ve known since 1st grade) who has been battling anorexia inpatient for over a year now and other teens I’ve known who have lost their ways. I don’t know what the future holds for these girls but tonight I was grateful for soccer games, girlfriends, parents who raise well-mannered kids and a good pint of ice cream.
yes. it's my real name. 
Go, Weeks! I also can not tell you how much joy I get from watching my daughters and their most awesome friends! They have such joie de vivre, and good values. They truly try to avoid gossip while still enjoying special treats like ice cream out. 🙂 I’m totally with you, these are the little things that are the big things. May God bless you with many more moments like this!
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Incidentally, there is a Jewish aphorism that’s almost 2,000 years old, from a book called the Mishnah, which says, “Who is rich? Someone who is happy with his lot.”
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I tried to leave a comment but Safari wouldn’t let me. I hope you get this but if you don’t I’ll think the good thoughts anyway.
Thank you for sharing abundance. I need to write a cover letter to include with an online application for a job. I’ve procrastinated for days and moaned and … When I read about your abundance I was reminded of everything I have in my life and how blessed I am so thank you for writing this post. I hope it helps others, too.
Mary
Sent from my iPad
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I was thinking much along these lines today too. My youngest is 33 and has 4 very good high school friends she is still close too. I can’t even count the numbers of miles driven, food eaten, overnights, dances, weddings, showers etc in all these years. One of the girls shared a photo from Christmas 2 yrs ago on her timeline. It was of the 5 of them with 8.5 toddlers/babies all gathered around on the couch. So many happy memories in all those smiles and hugs….and in a few weeks the count will be 12 littles! We are so blessed and I know you and Sophie will someday have the same bundles of sweet memories.
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I’ve been admiring your works for sometimes, but just came upon your blog today. Enjoyed reading your time with your daughter and her friends. Reminded me of our time when our children were growing up. Now they’re grown, working and living their own productive lives. Seems you have a well balance child. Enjoy every minute of it, because it’ll go by so fast. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful memory with us. God bless.
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Thank you Margo. I have lived every minute of time as a parent in the moment, very aware that I only got one chance to parent a single child and that it would fly. None of my friends have ever heard me complain about my responsibilities as a parent because I know that it is fleeting indeed. We waited 5 yrs to adopt her and I signed up for the whole deal — age appropriate behaviors, sacrifices and fun.
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I am loving this time with my daughter. She has three older brothers and I finally got my girl. It is a different thing, raising a girl. Not better but different and I am glad to have the opportunity. Over the holiday break she had a sweet friend sleep over. I made them ice cream sundaes while they watched hours of the old ‘High School Musical’ movies. Her friend looked up from her bowl and said, “this is so pretty, I don’t even want to eat it.” At 14, they are still kids at heart – under all of their attempts to be older and figure out what it is to be a teenager. It was heartwarming.
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