Why did I just think of that???

This weekend, to be honest most of the last week, was the worst in my entire life; but it also gave me the opportunity to reflect on some things, that are easily forgotten. What is it that really, truly enriches our lives?

I am sure that there are many people out there, just like me, who don’t always have their priorities right. I worry about a bigger place, and how to get there. I think that it would be nice to have a nicer car, clothes, jewelry, etc. But sometimes, I tend to forget the things (or people) in life I cannot live without, and which cannot be bought with any money in the world. This past week my 13-months old daughter came down with a serious illness; she didn’t eat or drink for days, and became increasingly lethargic. While in the beginning I was focussing on the time at work I was missing, my concerns grew with every hour my daughter’s condition declined. My husband and I both stayed home to be with her, took her from ER to doctor to hospital. At some point last Friday, when her condition hit rock-bottom I seriously worried about losing her. Seeing her personality being reduced to sleeping or lying in our arms with her beautiful eyes half-shut, barely responding to any stimulus, having to hold her weak little body down while nurses tried repeadedly to get an IV started and finally resigned to a feeding tube, all that just broke my heart. I wondered how I would survive if something happened to her, after she had become the star in our lives from the second of her birth. And it dawned on me that most things I worry about on a day to day basis are nothing but unimportant details. Yes, I don’t live in my dream house, but I have a place to live, big enough for our family, which is more than some people can say about themselves. It is the people that make this place my home, not the size or interior decoration. I had to think about mothers in other parts of the world who have to watch their little ones die every day, helplessly, without the access to the most basic commodities such as clean water, shelter, or basic medical care. What do cars, clothes, or jewelry mean in comparison to having a healthy family?

 This weekend, after seeing our daughter’s condition improving slowly but steadily, I vowed to focus more on the important things in life, rather than the details. Since, as the popular story of the glass, filled with rocks, pebbles, and sand, goes, it is easy to fill up ones life with too much unimportant detail and forget about one’s rocks in life. Tonight, as I type this blog, I truly feel like the richest woman in the world, with a loving and (almost) healthy family in our warm home.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS