This morning I was making my latte and listening to Pandora when the song Dave and I danced to at our wedding came on, The Hawaiian Wedding Song. It hit me like a ton of bricks and brought an immediate grin to my face. Turning it up, I stopped and looked around my home, “Who would have thought?”
If you’re married, odds are you remember everything about that moment too. As you swayed to the music you didn’t have a care in the world, this is where you were meant to be, with the people you loved most surrounding you in celebration. For most of us, our wedding song is one of those life moments we never forget (and for some people, one they wish they could forget).
I met Dave 22 years ago. We were kids with big dreams and all of 21 years old! He had shoulder length blond hair and mine was fire red with a rockin spiral perm. To this day Dave begs me to get that hair style back (yeah, right). Who would have thought that together we would travel the world, bury a parent (this wasn’t supposed to happen), start our careers, get married, buy a house (did we really have enough money to do this?), create two beautiful children and live to see the growth of…I’ll say it- grey hair! Can you relate?
Pondering our life together made me feel tremendous gratitude. It’s so easy to take what we have for granted. Whatever your situation, here’s a simple exercise for you to do today. Stop, go outside and look in the windows of your home. Objectively see your life as if a stranger looking in. Your perspective will completely change and instead of seeing what’s wrong, you will see what’s right.
Odds are you have a home, a family and food in the refrigerator. While this sounds pretty basic and a given, it’s not. Women all over the world are repressed in ways most of us can’t possibly imagine. So today, honor them by living in gratitude and truly taking in the blessings of your life. SEE your children, your partner, your furniture, your stove, your washer and dryer, your cabinets with food inside of them, your microwave, your floors, your walls with images of your life…take it all in. It’s beautiful isn’t it? This week, make this your mission- to see what’s beautiful and embrace the way it makes you feel.
Do me a favor, when you go outside and look in the window, come back and share on my blog how you felt and perhaps even what you saw. I would love to hear from you.
Written by Traci Bild, wife, mother, entrepreneur
www.GYGB.com Get your FREE Get Your Girl Back Dream Journal Download and spend time working ON your life versus simply living IN it.
Sandi
A life well lived and a marriage well loved for nearly fifty years. Happiness and gratitude .
Traci Bild
Sandi, wow- you are my inspiration! So rare to find someone like you. Congrats on a life well lived. Can I ask your top 3 pieces of advice for staying married for 50 years? Traci
Brittney Blauser
I couldn’t reach my windows to look in! They’re too high but I can tell you without looking that I am truly blessed. Thanks Traci. I love you. Mom
Traci Bild
I can say you have the best bed on the planet, with the softest sheets and pillows ever. And yes, I see a magical, happy doll house, full love when I get on a ladder and look in your windows, ha!
Nicole
I see fingerprints on the walls, toys scattered on the floors, shoes on the middle of the floor, hand drawn pictures on the windows and walls..I don’t have fancy furniture or decorations, but after a custody battle..I have my children. Its exhausting being a single mother of 3 boys, but I wouldn’t give up a single moment of watching them grow up!
Traci Bild
Wow, brought tears to my eyes Nicole- you so have your perspective right. Thank goodness for those fingerprints, right? Your boys are very lucky it seems to have you. My mom was single raising three of us so hats off to you. I know how hard it is so keep up the good fight! Traci
Emily
Although my windows and house are rented, I see a piece of the world I am able to make my own
(for the time being) which brings peace & positivity to my regularly anxious world. It also makes me feel very lucky, even though it prohibits the ability to save much – I am very fortunate to be able to work to afford my own serenity spot.
Traci Bild
I love this, that you are living from a place of gratitude which is vital to step into more abundance. Soon those windows will be yours. Traci
Tammy K Morris
I see beauty. I see the style of décor I like, two fat old bassett hounds, the wins, the losses, my son’s urn on the fireplace mantel, family photos. I see 30 years of love, work and Christ Jesus holding it all together.
Traci Bild
Wow, very powerful Tammy. I can see it…Traci
kim ramirez
I see toys, clothes, shoes all over. I see my sons shadow box from the police academy explorers program given to us at his wake. i thank god daily for keeping our family together through all the tough times we have experienced and have surrendered wanting more when our son was taken from us as i realized that family is what matters and nothing can bring him back. I thank god daily that we were able to stay together as a family after the tragedy in our lives.
Traci Bild
Kim, wow. Your view through the window is so powerful. I feel inspired to write about it, may I? Brings tears and lots of emotion. Keep fighting because you are doing something incredibly right. So sorry for your loss. I have a son and can’t even imagine. Traci Also, may I use your name or do you prefer I not use it? Either is fine.
kim ramirez
Traci, absolutely you can and yes you can use my name. It is the unimaginable i sometimes wake up and pinch myself “am i in a dream”. The evening of hell when we were woken up out of our sleep as our son was on his way to work (still testing for the academy) it has been a constant fight but a fight worth living for. I dont know how we would have survived without our faith, eachother, our family and very close friends.
penngirl1970
I look in my windows (or the front door) and I see jackets and backpacks hung on hooks, lego strewn everywhere and 2 messy desks all in the same room. Work and play… trying to find that balance. A busy work (I am an RN), family, and growing DS business.
Tania
I’m Megan from IDNtimes. We would like to feature your original photos as part of our content. The credit’s still yours and we will put the backlink to your blog. If you feel uncomfortable, please tell us at tania@idntimes.com.