This Week’s Lesson From My Toddler

It's amazing the lessons we can learn from our children when we take the time to be students instead of parents. I had a moment watching my son the other day where I thought about how glad I am that he won't remember any of the Coronavirus pandemic. I watched him run, play, get dirty, and generally living his best life, because at the age of 22 months that is all he knows how to do - live in the right now.

I thought about how freeing that must be to not worry about what might happen or stressed or anxious about things outside of your control. Simply reacting and living in the moment as it is.

Mostly, I realized there was a lesson here to be learned. Obviously, we are adults and we do worry, and stress, and plan, because those behaviors allow us to avoid risks and keep ourselves and our families safe. And, in times like now, there are very real reasons why these behaviors kick into high gear. AND, there also comes a point where these behaviors hold us back from being able to enjoy the life right in front of us. I've found this point for myself.

Since this all started back in early March, I've been feeling like my life hit the pause button. I hear myself repeating phrases such as, "When this ends…" or "When things get back to normal…" The thing is, while I'm waiting for that to happen, I'm missing the best version of life I could be living right now.

This feels very relevant right now with our current environment, but this phenomenon of waiting for something to start or end before feeling like we can fully live happens all the time. Even now, as I'm five months pregnant, I feel like I'm in a holding pattern with planning my business, because of maternity leave and the uncertainty of having a newborn and a toddler. And while I'm waiting for that to happen, I may be missing amazing opportunities in front of my face right now because I'm so preoccupied about what's to come.

So the lesson I'm learning from my toddler this week is to ask myself, "What does it look like to live my best life right now?" It's different than what it might look like in non-pandemic times, and that's okay. Hell, sometimes my best life is just making it to bedtime with a child, house, and sanity intact, AND I'm going to celebrate that. Some days, my best life might be setting aside my worries and fears and getting dirty in the grass with my son. But ultimately, I want to find satisfaction in knowing I lived the best version of me available right now.

I'll worry about the rest tomorrow.