Small Bites

Small bites.  Little sips.  Tiny tastes.  It’s so important to remember that we can take a smaller portion of lots of things.  Life doesn’t just have to be all or nothing.  We can just step back and take a pocket-sized piece.

Sometimes the “big picture” is just too much to look at.  Sometimes if we try to take on too much, it feels overwhelming and then we may decide not to do it at all.  It’s like if we carried all our emotions around with us in a backpack, and then tried to unload all of them at once.  We’d NEVER look at them because it would be just too much!  But, if we were to take a look at one thing, it just might feel more manageable.  And then the next thing wouldn’t seem so daunting.  And so on…

I am smack dab in the middle of the “sandwich generation”.  I’m still busy raising my kids and helping them to fly, while helping my aging parents with their ever changing needs.  Taking little sips is how I am making it through.  If I were to look at everything on my plate right now, I might not think I could manage.

We’re getting ready to help our daughter, our youngest, launch into adulthood.  She has just a few more months here under our roof and then off she will go.  What a wonderful roller coaster it has been!  Years filled with excitement, sadness, triumphs, and failures.  I was just thinking if when she was born I was shown a movie as to what would happen the next 18 years, how terrifying that film would be.  Not because anything horrible happened, but just the amount of energy expended raising children.  I think back 18 years ago and I was exhausted!  We had 3 kids under the age of 5.  I remember one morning making pancakes for the boys while nursing my daughter.  You just do what you have to do.

I can’t look at the big picture right now.  It’s too much.  I’m so excited for my daughter!  Her life’s adventure is just beginning.  On the flip side, we will have 3 empty bedrooms upstairs.  It’s too much.  My parent’s life adventures are winding down.  I’m continuing to help them stay as active and connected as they can.  It’s just too much.  Too much.  So, I take things a day or a week at a time for now.  Little sips of life.

Little food is so fun!  Often my husband and I will go to dinner and just share a couple of appetizers.  I love the appetizer menu!  The recipes I’m going to share have a few components, but nothing complicated.  The first is Tomato Soup with grilled cheese and basil sandwich cubes.  The second is a cucumber round with microgreens, avocado and fried goat cheese. The third is baked sweet potato rounds with guacamole and bacon bits.

So when you feel overwhelmed, start by taking small bites, little sips, or tiny tastes of life.  We’re all just walking each other home…one step at a time.

Peace