Marriage is hard. Rather, marriage is hard when life gets in the way of it. When Steve and I were in Hawaii, just the two of us (for the first time in eight years) we were so happy, so blissful, so in love. But that’s not reality, walking down the white-sand beach with a pina colada in hand with no responsibilities, no to-do list. Reality is riddled with stress, screaming kids, dirty floors, mounds of paperwork, demanding jobs, sleepless nights, and all the pressures of life. It often feels as though we’re in a war for what matters. If I am too exhausted to truly pour into my marriage or my children then WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?! Those things are the most important, but it’s so easy to live like they’re not. The days can get filled to the brim with busyness and it is just so draining.
If I am too exhausted to truly pour into my marriage or my children then WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?!
I have been thinking about this a lot, about how I need to live as though the important things truly are at the top of my list of priorities. Trying to sing a few extra bedtime lullabies to my baby, to linger with the cuddles my big girls request, to really stop in the day to look into my husband’s eyes and tell him I love him. The days are so fleeting, so fast.
Balance is unattainable, but worth striving for. Sometimes it looks like this: stepping out for a 15 minute ride on the back of a hog with your man, feeling the wind whip across you as you fly down the highway, life whizzing past so fast you can’t take it all in.
Also, a dirty old minivan in the background of your “we’re so cool!” photo. Because that’s our life.
And I love it.
Yes Amanda! So well written and I get exactly what you mean- we need to be both people- the bike and the van- not just the van!! And you need to be the mom and the girl with the boy she loves too.
Oh man, I am SO with you.
Life totally gets in the way of…life! Also, you need to let Steve know that he should (doubly) count his blessing on the wife he has. Beyond all the obvious (amazing) things that he’s fortunate on having you for, you’ll also get on the back of a motorcycle with him. Corey’s had his a few years and I REFUSE to sit on it unless the kickstand is down.
What’s not to love?!
Good post, lady – I feel you. I’ll bet we all do. xox