Under Construction

Road closed, follow the detour, under construction….these are all signs we have become very accustomed to seeing.  With Columbus quickly growing into one of the biggest small cities in the world, you’ve probably run into these signs many many times recently.  If you’re like us you get annoyed, roll your eyes and think: ugh I’m going to be late dropping my kid off, or seriously I come this way all the time, more construction, what could they possibly be building here, etc… The list goes on and on.  But recently we had an epiphany, one we’ve always known but it struck us like lighting!  All of this construction, while an obstacle and difficult to navigate, is in order to help the city grow, to allow for easier traffic patterns, all in all to make things better.  Are we seeing the parallels yet?

As women and moms, heck as humans, we are constantly under construction, or at least we should be.  There’s this feeling that change is bad and in relationships they say you’ve changed or I’ve changed, and yes that’s true! We are all going to change and grow and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I know I am not the same person I was 20 years ago or even 5 years ago, and I’m grateful for that. That isn’t to say it’s been an easy road by any means. Through all of the ups and downs, triumphs and heartbreaks, and there have been many, the obstacles are always there to guide us in the right direction. It never seemed that way at the time but when I look back on it there’s always a reason.  

I am a firm believer that while it’s easiest to settle into what we know and become complacent, we should always strive to continue to grow and learn. No one, not even Einstein (as I tell my kids) ever knows it all. I learn every single day from the people I surround myself with... kids I teach, parents I talk to, books I read, people more fortunate than me, people less fortunate... There are really lessons to be learned all around us; we just have to be open minded enough to let them in. 

I used to worry that if I was constantly yearning for more would that mean that I was never satisfied?  The truth is no, you can be completely content and happy but still be under a constant state of construction.  So yes, while we may have to take the scenic route, or follow the detour, that inevitably leads us to the most beautiful places we never would have discovered along the path most traveled.  Here’s to hoping that we are really never finished being built!