Reframe. One of the great gifts of my late 30s has been an ability to reframe experiences so that they feel more on-purpose, or more likely to offer up slices of joy.
My dad is out of hospital and back home, which seemed an impossibility a week ago (life lesson: remember how much can change in a week!) I’m on my way to Durban for 6 days to help him with his recovery, and while I am so happy to be seeing him, it’s hard to leave home.
This is partly because I really love my home – my husband! My kids! My bed! My garden! – and partly because it feels like I just left. But also, I think, because I’m a homebody at heart and so I like to draw close when I’m feeling tender.
Enter the reframe! While it doesn’t discount how I’m feeling, reframing this trip as an act of service for my dad, where we can spend quality time together, makes it sweeter. Reframing feeling sad about leaving my kids to being blessed to have such rad kids makes it sweeter.
It doesn’t change the facts but it does change the flavour, and that helps.
So! Here’s to finding a sweeter flavour in life, whenever that’s an option for us…
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