At the end of our Chinese feast for my son’s 15th birthday last month, we all cracked into our fortune cookies. Mine read as follows:
“Your next month will be hectic- but delightful.”
Oh wow- could a fortune cookie be any more hilariously accurate in its predictions?!
Knowing how my life was likely going to look for me in the upcoming months, I had to laugh out loud. I had a 6 week old at the time, I was getting ready to home school five kids with a busy toddler underfoot and my oldest teen was scheduled to take dance & music classes in every far-flung corner of the city.
As my husband and I navigated the past month, hopefully anticipating our schedules to settle into some groove of normalcy, we found great amusement in repeating this little “fortune” to one another.
“Hectic but delightful…right?”
Adding this smidgen of humor to circumstances that were not quite ideal got us through a potentially stressful time.
And I had some new revelations.
A “hectic” life is not necessarily wrong, or out of balance, or undesirable. An abundantly full life is going to look hectic at times.
Years ago, I recall receiving a gentle rebuke while observing my eldest daughter’s kindergarten class. I saw twenty children playing as kindergarteners do, in a small room full of toys, puzzles, dress-ups, glue & glitter, with noise and laughter and the occasional tiff. In a moment of feeling somewhat overstimulated by it all, I mistakenly commented to the experienced teacher, “this feels a bit chaotic!” She reminded me that everything going on at that moment was exactly as it should be. Five year old’s being five year old’s, playing and living as five year old’s should. Framing it that way, it really was quite delightful.
The same is true for a family living with purpose and intention. Life can appear hectic- but delight is a choice we get to make!
Even for someone like me who doesn’t naturally enjoy an especially busy pace, choosing to delight in the craziness of our schedule was a revelation for me. Calling it delightful by smiling and laughing in the moment transformed so much potential stress into hilarity and fun.
I learned a humorous life lesson from a fortune cookie last month- comically profound in its simple “ancient” wisdom!
Today, choose to laugh & take delight in those moments that feel a little wild and out-of-control! You’ll be amazed at how much better life feels!
Laundry Mom~Kali ♥
