Emotions. They’re tricky.
Everyone has them, and few have actually learned how to navigate them.
Women swing from one emotion, to the next, seemingly effortlessly.
Men try and figure out which of the emotions the women in their lives are feeling, at any given moment.
It’s a vicious cycle.
One minute you’re laughing, and the next, you’re crying.
And that isn’t even when you’re pregnant!
That’s just a regular, old, normal day for a female.
Men have 2 emotions ; how they feel WITH a game on (or whatever their vice is…), and how they feel without it on. HA!
I recently re-watched the Disney movie, “Inside Out” with some kids and was reminded of the first time I saw it, in a theater with kids I used to nanny.
I cried.
If you haven’t seen the movie, it is about a little 11 year old girl who moves to a new city, and how she navigates the changes she undergoes.
How she FEELS about the changes.
Towards the end of the movie, some of the memories are almost lost, and it shows the little girl through different stages in her life.
All those years ago, as a nanny, and with those 2 kids sitting on each side of me, whom I cared for since birth, I couldn’t help but think about ALL the children I have cared for, through the years.
I have seen first steps, first words, first rolling over, crawling, first plane ride, trip to the beach, to Disney World,
riding a bike with no training wheels, learning how to swing by themselves, and on and on the list goes.
Simply; I’ve been given the gift of creating and being a part of memories with probably a hundred kids or more.
It’s a gift I will treasure for the rest of my life.
I have never taken lightly, the trust placed in my hands, from parents who allow me to come into their homes and love their prized possessions.
My eyes began to water, and I let myself walk down memory lane for a brief moment, while sitting in that theater.
Kids don’t stay little for very long.
They are born, and the first few weeks seem awful.
You’re sleep deprived, you’re emotional, you’re learning to adjust to the new person in your home, and in your heart.
But, before you realize, they’re sleeping through the night, eating solid foods, rolling over, talking, walking, and then starting school…
Time goes by faster and faster, and before you know it, the kids are leaving for college.
Then, you really ARE “INSIDE OUT”. Everything you know is backwards.
Kids are leaving YOU. YOU are now being checked on, and asked questions.
You have less and less control in their lives, and you pray and hope they make the right choices.
Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it….
It’s an old bible verse, that still holds true.
YOU are the most important teacher in your child’s life.
YOU teach them, train them, help develop their skills, habits (both good AND bad), their thoughts on life, etc.
If you are doing what you need to, kids may take a different course than you’d prefer, but they will not depart from the truths they know.
Which makes me think about everything going on in the world, and even right where I live.
Everywhere you look, people are literally inside out.
Confused.
Living the opposite of how they should.
Instead of loving, we are hating.
Instead of accepting, we are condemning.
Instead of living, we are dying.
Everything has changed, and I don’t think a lot of it is good.
I, for one, want to live my best life, NOW.
I want to LOVE!
I want to SMILE, LAUGH, DANCE!
I want to make people happy, make them laugh and dance along with me.
I want to be the light in someone’s otherwise, dark world.
The same way Jesus is.
There is so much around us all that is inside out.
Let’s embrace JOY, and let fear, anger, and disgust disappear. =)