It's ALL RIGHT

What if, when we are asked how things are going, instead of saying “It’s alright”, we say “It’s all right”?  Wow.  Think about that for a moment and what a profound difference it could have on ev-er-y-thing.  Now, I’m not a very religious person… I don’t understand a lot about God’s word.  But I’m guessing this is similar to what religious folk mean when they say that it’s all in God’s plan.  

Sometimes, it’s damn hard to recognize that everything happening in your life is shaping and molding the person you are and that those things are happening for a reason.  I often think back to things that happened to me when I was younger and know for a fact that I would not be the person I am today without those things.  For better or worse.  I’m a strong, independent, funny, honest, kind, sensitive person.  I am those things because I was raised by one of the strongest single moms in the world who dealt with unimaginable tragedies while raising a teenage girl, because my dad was silly and danced while singing “your momma don’t dance and your daddy loves rock-n-roll” to wake me up on the weekends I spent with him, because my grandmother is honest to a fault and because I’ve known what it feels like when people aren’t kind.  But, it’s all right.  It’s all exactly the right stuff that transforms me into each phase of life.  

I’ll be thirty this summer and while I don’t love everything about my life, everything is really all right for this phase.  I have two beautiful children and a loving husband.  Those children keep me on my toes and don’t allow my mind to ever quit.  And that husband drives me up the wall sometimes and is gone way too often as he serves our country.  I often ask myself “where the hell has Chrissi gone” but I know that at this phase in my life, that is all right.  As a momma, I’m supposed to sacrifice for my small children.  As a Navy wife, I’m supposed to have these feelings because I chose to follow my husband’s career and keep the candle burning at home.  Of course, realizing those things don’t make it any easier to deal with though.  So, even realizing that everything is ALL RIGHT, it’s my duty to myself and my soul to make it FEEL ALL RIGHT.  

And that’s where it’s starts to get a little blurry.  How do I focus on myself when the big kid needs his milk cup filled up one.more.time, or when the baby is waking up every three hours at night, or when the husband comes home and the first thing out of his mouth is “what’s for dinner”?  Honestly, I have no idea.  But, I know that’s all right.  It’s a common struggle for moms.  For wives.  For women.  We do it all for others and often forget about ourselves.  As we service others, we are doing a disservice to ourselves.  So, let’s make a little pact with each other, ladies.  Even if we don’t actually do anything for ourselves, let’s all just recognize that it’s alright to need it.  And that could really make things ALL RIGHT.  

photo cred: thatkindofwoman.tumblr.com