Awesome Star and perspective…what in the world!?!
Awesome Star! What could that possibly mean? To anyone else in the world…it means nothing. In our house, it’s a thing. (; Don’t you love how you have “things” that just you and your special people know about? Well, I’m about to tell you about awesome star because the other day it shifted my perspective.
With Thanksgiving last week and Christmas just around the corner, life is busy, chaotic and stressful, right? It would be all of these things anyway, but add managing pandemic life to it, and it feels even a little bit more stressful! Of course in November, it always is a good time to remember all of the things for which we are thankful.
Friends and family are most often at the top of that list. This year, there may be some things that we haven’t thought to actually be thankful for though. Time with our loved ones feels like it has been stolen from us a bit this year, so we’re reminded of how precious our time on this earth truly is and maybe we’ve even rearranged our priorities a little bit to make more time for those important and loved people. My husband spends every Saturday morning outside on the patio having a virtual coffee date with his parents now…it’s the coolest thing, and I think that maybe it’s one of the most important hours of his week now. This never would have happened without the current state of our world. We are so thankful that this coffee hour has come to be.
Usually there are some other things that we are thankful for too, right? So…let’s get back to “Awesome Star”. This year, I am most grateful for perspective. Perspective is defined as the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance. My world changed fifteen years ago when my husband and I adopted our son, who is Guatemalan. Four years later, we adopted our daughter, who has since been diagnosed with autism. It is so true that your perspective changes based on the lens that you are looking through. Our lens permanently changed with our beautiful kiddos…in ways that we never imagined when we started our family.
Having a child with autism changes the dynamic of our family…sometimes it’s amazing and other times it’s pretty darned hard. Last week, I read a much needed social media post written by another mom of a child with autism. It was a good reminder for me…a good reminder of how the perspective that you hold can truly shape the life that you live, right in the moment and for the long haul. That post reshaped my perspective in the moment to allow me to enjoy even some of the hard stuff…and “Awesome Star” is kind of one of those things that came to be out of something hard. My Lauren sometimes struggles with following directions (well, maybe a lot! LOL). She decided a while back that she “hated thank you”, so in light of saying thank you to her, I asked her what she would rather me say. Her answer? Awesome Star. Yep, that’s right. Now when I thank her for doing something I asked her to do, instead of saying thank you, I try super hard to say “Awesome Star!” Sometimes saying such a goofy thing that doesn’t even seem to make sense can annoy me…last week, after I read that post, I realized once again that it’s all about perspective. Perspective for me, comes and goes, a little bit, as it does many people, I think. Shifting my perspective on “Awesome Star” in the moment was a game changer…I was able to see the beauty in it and let go of the hard.
In the midst of the hard, remembering that we are all doing the best we can in the moment we are in is important. I guess this message is timely with all that the year 2020 has brought for our world and our country. Putting things into perspective can sometimes be hard for all of us. As difficult as my journey has sometimes been over the years, it has given me perspective. It has blessed me with a perspective that I never would have had if I hadn’t walked in these shoes of mine. I am so thankful for perspective, and I am thankful for posts that remind me to take a step back and remember what is truly important. When we all look back on 2020, it will likely shift our perspective on what is really important as well…there is good to be seen in this year. Some of It may still be hiding in the shadows, but it will show up in due time.
“Awesome Star” for reading to the end! (;
Xo,
Jill
