Shake What The Good Lord Gave Ya!

Behold... my muse

The most beautiful girl in the world lives under my roof. She makes me laugh like a fool, cry like a saint, and at times convinces me that I am a bit insane. Any way you look at it... she often reduces me to tears. And that is a wonderful sort of thing.

My daughter breaks a great many things... we were discussing this at lunch today and Caleb was laughing with a particular gusto about how many things she has broken in our household. He was deeply immeshed into what was proving to be a long list when she cut him short with a simple statement. "Well, I haven't broken any bones." The laughter shifted to Caleb, who was now feeling quite defensive... he broke his arm this past spring.

So yeah, point taken... she breaks a lot of stuff, and walks into a lot of stuff, and falls down a lot. She loses her shoes and misplaces her belongings all over the house. She has a smile that stops me dead in my tracks.

This girl embraces life with a naturally happy hug. Her personality is as engaging as the dimples when she smiles. You can see the joy in her heart in the video above. The bus was over 30 minutes late at that point. If it would have been most of us, we would have been impatient, frustrated, worried, and upset. We would be fussing and fuming and calling and complaining. 

And we would have missed the beauty of the day. She teaches me how I need to view my life. It is not a series of goals and a list of failures and accomplishments. It is not about disappointments and what-ifs. It isn't even about whether or not I have missed my proverbial bus. No, life is meant to be lived.

Hands over head, body spinning, life embracing... life is meant to be danced. Now, only a few of you folks have had the experience of seeing me try to dance. I regret that it is not a pleasant sight. And yet... it is this spirit of abandon that I need to capture in my own life. This is the bit of heaven that I glean from my daughter.

Our day to day living is an incredible gift, the highest commodity we are given. Each day provides us with choices and we will live by our approach. 

I am so thankful to share this life with my wonderful children, and my daughter who is willing to dance while she waits on the bus. I love her with all I am. 

I dance with my daughter, and I remember the beauty that is life.

P.S. To any of you who have video of me dancing... forward it to me and I will add it to this post!