Highs and Lows

I'm in Chicago with my Aunt and her adorable family.  Its snowing, and because I don't live in snow, I still think its a treat!  We got up and went to volunteer with the kids, went to lunch, walked around the shops downtown, played glow in the dark golf, then came home and made some yummy wholesome dinner.  As we all sat down for dinner and gobbled up the delicious food, my aunt asked the kids the same question she'd asked the night before, "Okay kids, what are your highs and lows?"  We went around the table and everyone says their high and low points from the day.  We all said the helping with the kids, golf, and dinner as highs, the kids low was going back to school, and I couldn't think of one today... but to me just the highs and lows was a bonus high... It was so cool to just be with a family that eats together and shares like that.

I asked my aunt later in the night how long they had been doing the highs and lows.  She told me a while, and that its just a way to be grateful for things and when you say your highs, your lows don't seem as big of a deal.  It was true, saying all of those highs really made me grateful, more grateful then I was already!  It kinda reminded me of the silver lining, my way of finding the highs of the day, when the lows suddenly seem to fade.

My Uncle Matt is a pilot, so he got home later in the evening and we were talking, and I don't remember exactly what we were saying about the day, something about some of the people I met or something... but he said something like, after all this you're never gonna come back, half kidding... The funny thing is, it was seeing the highs and lows of things that really made me love it here. There are some things we want so badly, but they will never make us happy and then there are those random moments when the kids are being kids and get upset when they're losing a game, the crazy people every town has who add some sort of drama, the running from one place to the next trying to fit too much in, the way parents handle their kids and the tricks they create that are so brilliant, goodnight routines kids create that are so loving and priceless... Unplanned little things that weave together to form this beautiful life.  Those are the things you may not remember to put on a wish list, but they touch you in a way you'll never forget.  Those are the highs and lows that we forget about unless we take the time to remember... And when we do, we're suddenly back on a high.

Today's Silver Lining:

"Oh you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need." You Can't Always Get What You Want- by The Rolling Stones