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Sunday, March 24, 2013

living the dream.


Welcome to Hollywood.
What's your dream?
Everybody's got a dream.
What's YOUR dream?

A question I've often thought of, tried to work through, and still occasionally haunts me.  Big Man has a dream and he's working towards it.  He's a writer/director on track to film his second full length feature film later this year.  My mom had a dream.  She created a company, took it public and shines still in the business world.  I struggle sometimes without a clearly defined dream or dream job.  I want to write a book.  I want people to read what I write and know who I am.  I would love to be a public speaker.  I want to live in a beautiful home, drive a nice car and live the dream.  But I don't have one solo mission that burns into everything I do.

And then I remembered last night.
I did have a dream.
And I'm already living it.

The truth is, the one thing I ALWAYS wanted, more than anything, more than a career, more than success and money...was to be a mom and a really good one.  I wanted a family and a really big one.  And sometimes I guess I just forget that the mom dream is just as noteworthy as commercial, worldly success or perhaps even more so.  There's surely a time and place for everything.  And being a mom has not gotten in the way of the things I have wanted to do or develop although it may have delayed a few goals.  But when I look around at our babies and the family we have built that continues to grow and flourish I realize I AM living MY dream.  I have given birth to four amazing babies and have been blessed to be the bonus mom to two other incredible children.  And while it's often hard work, I'm a pretty good mom, most days and surely I have created the big family I wanted!

My dream?

I'm living the big one. 

And man, life is good!

-McGee




bouncing back.

It's funny.

The things you learn while trying to impart wisdom on a child.

Sometimes, if you're paying attention,
it's you that needed to hear what you said.

It's softball season and this year that means I have THREE girls getting dirty on the field every week.  It means farmer tans, bruised legs from sliding and lots of fun.  It also means our competitive side is out in full force.  And that?

That's all from me.

My mini-me is solid at first base on her high school team and a captain this year.  She excels at everything she does, it's kind of amazing.  But here's the thing...when she strikes out or her solid hit deep into center field is caught...it stays with her.  (and that's also all from me)  You can see it on her face as she heads back in to the dug out, it's crystal clear as she's working her way through the next inning.  If it's bad, you can still see it when she's home, showered and getting through her homework.

I've played and coached long enough to know that you really can't tell a hard core player that it's just a game, get over it, it was a solid hit met by a great defensive play.  So I went a different route.  She needs to work on her bounce back.  To be the best player she can be, she needs to bounce back quicker.

I'm starting to see a direct correlation from one's level of happiness to their ability to bounce back.  Strike outs happen.  Life kicks you in the shins.  People disappoint and hurt you.  How quickly you're willing to let it go, put it away and move forward, how quickly you can bounce back, determines how happy you really are.

As I look at my own hang ups, the situations in life that have been tough to bounce back from or at people around me who hold on to a grudge or insist on staying hurt...it's amazing, really.  The things we hold on to can really keep us down.

Perhaps it's time we all work on our bounce back.

It's funny, isn't it?

The things we learn while trying to impart wisdom on our children.

-McGee