Life in the "in between"

We're talking about life in the “in between” today.

What does that mean life in the in between?

When it was presented to me, as someone who said, ‘Gosh, I'm in the in-between’ and the more we talked, I realized what this person meant. What people mean when they say that is life is you know we have these beautiful moments in life, the victories, the wedding days, the times when we're out having fun with friends or family are on a great trip, maybe the trip of a lifetime.

Then, we have times where life maybe isn't going as we planned something comes into our lives that we didn't expect like an illness or a cancer diagnosis, the death of a loved one, the death of a pet. Maybe a job we don't like it's when life is less than what we would call stellar. That is the “in-between” times when the greener grass is in someone else's yard and we're watching someone else have the victory. That's our “in between'“ time as if what happens in between the highs isn't really life. It's just the in between.

I have a problem with that. I would love your feedback on this. You can tell me I'm crazy. But since I have the microphone, I'm going to share my viewpoint with you. I don't think there are “in betweens” in life. Every day every second of our journey every microsecond of our journey is our journey. It's all beautiful. There is no in between. Just because some days we're sitting on a beach in North Carolina or Hawaii and then the next week we're back in a job that maybe we don't like it doesn't mean the job is the in between.

If we considered the less than stellar parts of our lives the “in between” then we are missing most of our lives. We are constantly waiting for something great to happen. We're waiting for the next big victory. We're waiting for the next vacation and we're missing our lives. There is no in between. It is all life. It is all lessons we get to learn. It is all steps we get to take on the road to our goals. If we look at those, “low points” as the in between, we're missing the point, we're missing our life, we get one, we get one journey through. If we waste most of our time waiting, then we've wasted our lives.

Life is the dishes and unloading the dishwasher, and hanging the laundry out to dry and changing the bedsheets and cleaning our closets and sweeping floors. Those things are all beautiful, as beautiful as the trip, the vacation, the the time that somebody picks up our book and wants to publish it for us or puts us on their stage, or we have a huge breakthrough in the in the science community, whatever it is that lights you on fire. Those victories are awesome. Yes, we should celebrate them. Yes, we we look forward to our vacations because it's a difference. It's a different part of our routine. But every day is a part of our journey. And every day is a part of our life that we get to celebrate, there is no in between.

In between one day and the next. Everything can change in an instant. You may wake up with a family intact and go to bed with a family that's not intact. So if we spend our entire life waiting for the next good thing we've missed our life. I don't consider any day and in between any more. I used to I used to spend all my time looking forward to vacation looking forward to the weekend looking forward to whatever. But in doing so I was missing my life. I remember one time saying to my grandmother, I can't wait until and she stopped me in my tracks. And she said, stop wishing your life away. Every day is amazing.

All of your kids will be out of diapers someday. But if you're waiting for that day, you're missing the beauty of right now. And never forgot that lesson. Not to say I don't mess up sometimes. But I try to remind myself often that there's no in betweens in life, it is all life.

Things do happen sometimes, when things in my life seem to fall apart, I take a few steps.

Number One, I look at the problem, I recognize the problem, I recognize it.

Number Two, I try to do something about it, I take action, I recognize the problem, I take action on a solution.

Number three, I ask others for help. That was a huge step asking others for help. I take ownership.

Number four, I take ownership.

Number five, I change what I can and I accept the rest.

Those are things that I look out all the time when things are happening in my life that I want to change, I recognize the problem, take action on the solution. Let others help I ask for help. I take ownership, I change what I can and I accept the rest. But that doesn't mean that I am not enjoying life while all that is happening.

You get to take ownership of your life. You get to take action on the solutions. You get to take your focus off a problem. You get to ask for help you get to do all of this while you're living your life. And it is not an in between it is your life. Every second of every day you get to make a choice. And you get to take a step and you get to make life better for yourself. But if you are waiting for someone to come in and take control and save the day, it's not going to happen. And if you think that life is only about the vacations and the quote unquote, victories, you're missing the best part of life. The victories are made sweeter by the hard work that you put into achieving that victory. There is no in between. It is all an amazing life. Take control, take ownership, focus on solutions.

Not every day is going to be a mountaintop experience. When I was a little girl, there was a song I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. I used to love that song as a little girl. I didn't know what it meant, but I loved singing it anyway. But it is true. Not every day is going to be full of roses. But you get to take steps every day to to make every day the best possible day it can be. Don't fall for the notion that there is some kind of in between that life is all about the victories and the mountaintop experiences as nothing else matters because it's just the in between time that is not true. Every single day of your life matters.

So take control, take ownership and make every day count who can use serve every day. Ask someone every day, how can I make today better for you? If you are feeling down, focus on somebody else help meet their needs, it will automatically automatically make you happier. Take control of your life and stop waiting for the mountaintop experiences because you're missing the best parts of your life if you do that.

Your journal prompt today is this.

How can I make every day? The best day? How can I make every day the best day I love you enough to bring the tough stuff to you?

The tough conversations the tough love. Stop waiting for your life to happen. It is happening now. So enjoy every step of your journey. Focus on the solutions take ownership.