My Preschooler's Lesson in Opposites is Deeper Than You Think
And other fun life things I'm learning right now...
Do you ever feel like there is just so much going on right now but then also, at the same time, like nothing is really happening? I feel like things are going incredibly well but can also list off at least five things giving me anxiety today.
Maybe life is just like that sometimes. Maybe I’ve finally allowed myself to exist in the duality of the human experience. Things are good and bad and indifferent all at the same time. And the only reason that’s confusing is because we’re so used to defining things as either or. But they can be both/and (and almost always certainly are).
For example it’s been a heavy emotional time with my oldest starting pre-school this month. She’s both nervous and excited to go to school every morning.
“My tummy kind of hurts, mommy.” She tells me each time we get in the car.
I reassure her that it’s okay to be nervous and that her tummy will stop hurting when she gets in the classroom and starts to play.
She’s also started telling me, “I’m NOT nervous, mom!” every time I try to okay her feelings.
Well, whatever you’re feeling, and for whatever reason your tummy is upset, my dear, it’s okay.
And it is. Because every time I pick her up, she gets in the car and asks, “Can I do that again?”
Just like her, I’m nervous for her to go off into the world and experience life without me. But also excited and proud and honestly just can’t believe we’re already in this phase of things. She has spirit week right now and a field trip in a few days and school pictures next week.
It’s like I woke up one day and added Events Coordinator to my job description.
Exciting and overwhelming.
“Hey! That’s opposites!” my daughter would exclaim.
Yes. And both are true.
Duality.
The trick, I think, is to not linger in either extreme but to ride the center of the wave, best I can, using the momentum of the current.
Which sounds cliche, at best, and honestly pushes me to the edge of my control-loving comfort zone. But then I humbly acknowledge the ego I’m clinging to and realize that, cliche or not, it’s mostly true.
When I can sit in the eye of the storm, balance in the center of the wave, and keep a steady breath as I observe all that is around me… then, I feel, I am catching on.
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