Turn On Your Heartlight
It's 4:30 am. Again. It's a strange hour for me because I used to sleep right through the four o'clock hour. When I got pregnant, though, my twins woke me up at 4:30 am just about every night. Usually for food. Sometimes for kicking. Generally for water.
Now they do it for turning on the light switch.
Perhaps it's a power thing. I mean, I'm a control freak. I get it. They get a rush out of reaching out with little fingers and turning the lights on. Then turning them off. Then back on again. You know that commercial with that guy opening and closing his drapes so he can smell them while his neighbors wonder if it's an SOS? I'm kind of worried my neighbors will call 911, thinking it's a home invasion. I guess I'm lucky my neighbors wouldn't call 911 if the place were on fire. (Someday, I'll tell you about the screaming incident.)
So anyway. I was pondering what to do with myself since Lord knows, I'm not going back to sleep. Work on my book? Ooooh. That's a possibility. Work on my day job work. Stronger possibility. Bang my head on the wall as the light goes on, off, on, off, on, off?
Bingo!
When this happens a lot, you start to wonder at the meaning behind it all. It could be part of the big picture. God could be giving me a sign. Guiding me on the next step of what to do in my story. Giving me a few minutes to fill the well by reading. Helping me find that ellusive corner of the blanket so I can cover more than my feet. It's gotta be something.
I think I've finally found the answer. Remember that part of the movie in "Evan Almighty", when Morgan Freeman explains that people don't quite understand what they're asking for when they pray for something? They pray for peace of mind. They pray for family togetherness. They pray for good things to happen. What they get is opportunity. Opportunity to achieve a sense of peace over a situation they didn't previously understand. Opportunity to strengthen their family. Opportunity to see good things happen. Problem is, most folks don't realize Opportunities generally come out of adversity.
That really stuck with me. I mean, I'm really tempted to tell the babies that 4:30 in the morning is not an opportunity I was really looking for. But don't I always ask for more hours in the day? Don't I always wish I had a few hours of quiet time to get myself in order and get ahead of the mayhem?
So, I tend to smile now when the light goes on. When I hear baby giggles over who's going to hit the switch this time. And I reach for my computer to get a jump on things. Cause it's all about the Opportunities.
Have you had some unexpected opportunities lately? Share!
Dee
I've been offered two
I've been offered two opportunities this year - people approaching me to work on projects I doubt I'd ever have thought to submit to! It's not just flattering to be asked, it's a chance to try something I wasn't expecting to do.
If my opportunity came at 4:30 in the morning, though, I'd be too cranky to appreciate it! ;)
M
Read in bed!
www.meganhart.com
Trying New Things
That's an opportunity I say I want but I'm afraid of getting, lol. Like when hubby first offered me sushi. SOOOOO wasn't ready for that one. But I like trying to widen my horizons...once I've done it. Good luck with your new options!!
I love sushi! M Read in
I love sushi!
M
Read in bed!
www.meganhart.com
I really like this Dee...
Though like Megan, I don't know if I could be that generous at 4am. ;)
Two of mine came in the last week or so. The first was the rejection of the ms I'd been working on for months -- it hit home, knocked me over for a couple days, and there were a couple moments where I thought, well, that's kind of that, isn't it? But I realized, it was (another) opportunity to learn how to do it right, so I picked myself back up and started again, but not repeating the same mistakes I've made the first three (ahem..cough...) times.
The second was yesterday, on my birthday. Birthdays are always strange to me because they're layered over with some kind of film that demands to react to things in certain ways, like there's a script we're supposed to follow or something, or there are expectations, sometimes disappointments, and I realized it was really the opportunity to enjoy the unexpected, which I did. It's also an opportunity to be genuinely thankful for what you have, not what you get (even though I got some really cool stuff).
Sam
Hhhhhapppy
Hhhhhapppy Birthday!
:)
M
Read in bed!
www.meganhart.com
toooooo
toooooo youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
It's supposed to sound like
It's supposed to sound like singing...but well, just be glad you can't hear me.
Sending you all the best birthday wishes!
Dee
Thanks...
Don't you all love how I keep sneaking birthday stuff into blogs... but it really has fit your topics, at least, heh. :)
Sam
Hey, No worries...
I'll totally be bringing up my birthday in April. I am without mercy that all will know the date. LOL!
Totally Sweet, Dee!
I've had the opportunity to turn things down lately...went shopping with a friend over the weekend and did NOT buy the kicky Frye clogs that looked sooooo cute on my feet and would be PERFECT for spring afternoons at the coffee shop.
Turned down the "opportunity" to fry up some "magic mushrooms" and eat them in a hotel room with a bunch of mom friends. I don't think 36 is the right age to end my "I've never done drugs" streak. Feel free to correct me.
Only recently have I realized what an opportunity saying "No" really is. It is! It is it is it is! Of course, some opps you can't turn down - like the little boy at the bedside at 2 a.m., coughing. But the opportunity to say no to the things that I really don't want (magic mushrooms) or really do want (I am a total Frye boot/shoe fanatic) opens up space...and space is a really good thing. Space in my closet. Space in my soul, or just in my day for more of what I do want.
Maybe I'm not making sense. Maybe I should try the magic mushrooms.
Margaret
I gotta admit...
No isn't always a word I'm good at. (Unless it's something that cost money. Then I'm a wunderkind!) But hey, if you find the magic, non-toxic shrooms, I'm willing to try with you. Maybe they make you superspeed?
Awww....
Thanks, Dee! Great post, and I totally get the kids being on a completely different schedule than the rest of the world. Oy... It's terrific that you can see it as a gift (I'm afraid I usually didn't...)
Hmm... I've been getting a lot of opportunities to do laundry a bit more often--our youngest is learning to use the potty (yay! hooray!) and it's a bit of a winding road ;) And I've been trying to relax and enjoy the short time that they'll still be wanting to be snuggly... mmmm, cuddles :)
Happy belated birthday, Sam! How were your cakes?
Oh, don't get me wrong...
I whine and complain just like every one else. I'm just starting to realize I've been looking at it in a way that is not conducive to being happy the rest of the day. When I was pregnant, I just stuffed my face and read something. Now, I juggle babies and try to write. Some days it works, some days not. But if I find a way to look forward to it, lol, odds are, it'll stop. :)
I've been offered an
I've been offered an opportunity to go to Hawaii this July!
Ooooh!
That's an opportunity I'd love. Congrats!!
My DD used to wake up at 4am every single day
For the first two years of her life. And no, she was not sleeping through the night either ::jen whimpers at memory:: However.... one day she suddenly started sleeping right through until 7. I kept waking up at 4:00 so I started sitting down to write. Wrote like a maniac in the dark for a couple of years, sold first book and had the opportunity to talk about my DD waking me up at 4am in the reader letter of my first Desire :-))
This week I have the opportunity to handle a cold with grace and style :-P
Jen
http://www.jenlewis.com
Seriously?
Does it actually happen, where they don't wake up at the flipping crack of dawn anymore? My son was up at 4:47 a.m. every morning for months. Now he sleeps until 5:30 but I'm still not rested from the first 30 months. Good for you for using the time to write!
Y'all are NOT reassuring me...
I'd already read that they'll be difficult for the first two years. It'd be easier if they for sure would go to sleep at night. Ah well, if life were easy, we'd all have fabulous abs. :)
Dee