PUZZLES & CAMO SHELLY HUHTANEN

Contentment in the Mundane

In life, a lot of little things that add stress and slowly add weight can become layers like tiramisu. In other words, life can be a "tiramisu of crap."

The irony of the human condition is that at times, we are so focused on reaching some point on our life's journey, some form of happiness, or a certain life's goal, that we lose sight that the journey itself is where it all happens. I read a quote of this nature a few days ago and noticed, unfortunately, the author was unknown. As I say good bye to my oldest son, Hayden, as he heads back to college to start his spring semester, I realize that this is so true. The last fifteen years have encompassed times of joy and relief, only to be overrun with fear, concern, and at times, discontentment. As my oldest son started to drive off down the street to start his sevenhour drive back to college, I started to cry, but then I began to sigh. Maybe I'm a

little bit wiser or maybe I'm starting to realize that what comes with our life's journey is change, and that can actually be a good thing. When I walked back into the house after Hayden drove off, the house was quiet. Broden was at clinic and all I could hear was the news on the television.

I have spent quite a bit of my time in the last fifteen years looking to my left and right, trying to figure out where we need to be on our journey. I thought about ways to encourage Hayden to connect with Broden, or how can we work on Broden's life skills and encourage him to be more verbal. I even went through a

stage where I mourned Broden's birthday, because it was one more year that we had not met a milestone. I'm grateful I was able to begin celebrating Broden for his uniqueness, and spend less time focusing on the milestones he had yet to meet. Last weekend, I was reminded that when we take time to be grateful for where we are on our journey and appreciate the mundane, stop looking to the left and right as to what others are doing, we can experience a sense of contentment.

The last weekend before Hayden was scheduled to drive back to school, we decided to go for a short hike together.