Holding the painful on one lap, and the delightful on the other

Somebody once told me that parenthood in reality is ‘Tough-Tough-Tough-Tough-Miraculous moment-Tough-Tough-Tough-Tough-Miraculous moment-...’. Of everything I read and heard, for me, this is definitely the most accurate description of the parenthood journey.

Being a mother has taught me the inseparable, intertwined, symbiotic relationship between the tough and miraculous moments and feelings in every day life.

Our response to the complex and challenging modern life, is as good as our ability to hold the painful and the delightful simultaneously on our laps. The tough and the miraculous follow and feed off of each other, forming the life cycle experience. There is no miracle without the tough and vice versa. Birth is both painful and delightful. Death is both painful and delightful. And everything in between is a mix of those, both beautiful and brutal. We are alive and present to the extent that we hold these seemingly opposite, but in reality inseparably connected, feelings and moments simultaneously, rather than running away from the negative and seeking the positive.

Our role in a life of chosen optimism is to accept and embrace the brutal as well as the beautiful. In every setback or bad luck lies the seeds of change, movement, and opportunity. This is true for work, family, relationships, health, and parenthood all the same.

I invite you, with all my heart, to cherish both the miraculous moments that fill you with hope and the tough ones that give you the opportunity to learn, change, and grow. Life is Bru-tiful.