Thought for the Week from Karla’s Korner: Focus

Thought for the Week

I am proud to introduce a new column to Madame Deals! I think we all need a touch point a place we can go to be inspired. Karla is my children’s teacher, a good friend, and a person with a heart of gold. I hope that her words will inspire you to do more. We are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with. It is important to listen with your heart and proceed with your eyes open. Enjoy!

Spring is in the air and my yard is bustling with a lot of activity from the critters that call my yard home. While sweeping off the deck the other day I noticed movement in the tree a few feet away and discovered that a dove has taken up residence in a nest there. She is beautiful. She is still, calm and much focused on staying put while the squirrels and other birds scamper all around her. Her eyes are outlined with the most beautiful shade of blue while her soft gray feathers seem to fade from one shade to another. With a few leftover leaves above that have hung on throughout the winter she is tucked into her nest waiting for the big day. I find myself going out to check on her periodically and am amazed at her focus and patience. While the unpredictable Virginia weather has brought snow, sleet, rain, wind and sunshine in the past week the momma dove has not moved. I find myself wondering how she can just sit there and wait. What is it that makes her so focused and so determined to stay put? The answer is simple: she’s a mom.

Watching “momma” as I call her I allow my mind to travel back to the time I was preparing for the birth of my own children. While I didn’t have to stay put for nine months sitting on a nest, I did have to prepare and more importantly stay focused. Flash forward nearly twenty years and guess what? I still wait; but in a different way. Now instead of waiting for my children to make an appearance in my world, I am waiting and watching them prepare to make their appearance in their own world. They are taking small steps into making their own way in their own world and I am working on figuring out how to let it them go. I must stay focused like the momma bird.

As I write this I am on the last day of my Spring Break and am looking forward to returning to my classroom. I have heard so very many people complain today at how tired they are from all of the things they did over Spring Break. One Facebook friend proclaimed that they would have to go back to work so they could rest. This year I decided that I was not going to waste the week running around, spending excessive amounts of money or tearing my house apart to clean it from top to bottom. Instead, I decided to choose a few activities and enjoy my time at home with my son and my thoughts. Staying focused each day of our time together made the week quite enjoyable and peaceful. We each chose a day and an activity without the other meaning I went for coffee and spiritual nurturing on Wednesday and he went with friends for lunch and movies on Thursday. Friday brought an impromptu lunch with both of my children; something we had not done in a very long time; just me and my kids. As I sat in a restaurant watching my children fill their plates at the buffet table I was reminded at just how much focus it takes to be a parent. There were times when I wasn’t so sure I was going to make it through parenting small children and then just when I had that down pat they grew into teenagers and my focus had to change. Now, as young adults I find my focus is changing again. While my “mother” focus will always remain strong with my children and their lives I am beginning to understand that focusing on myself and my life is starting to become more of a priority. What is it that I want to do for the second half of my life? Let’s face it, I am 45 years old; I am middle aged.

Taking time to figure out what it is that I want to do now that my baby birds are beginning to fly on their own is the next step in my life journey. The options are limitless so I must work to stay focused on making the right choices for myself and then work toward achieving my new goals. We must always remember that each stage in our life is a mere stepping stone in our journey. I encourage you to stay focused during each stage making sure you realize that focus and goals will and need to change as we make those steps. For me, I will continue to watch momma bird and hope to get a glimpse of the babies she is patiently waiting for and somewhere along the way as I look through the lens of my life I will make the right choice for myself as I decide where it is that I will go next.

Peace,

Karla

Check out all of Karla’s Korner articles for more thought for the week here. Also, please visit Karla’s Lifetime Moms page and read her articles.

Topic: Thought for the Week