Life Perspective – The Thinking Branch

Life Perspective

The Tradition in “The Pause”

December 21, 2020 by Brea Schmidt No Comments

Traditions.

They are, and always have been, my favorite part of the holiday season.

Well, except for that ONE.

That one my dad started when we were kids that drove my sister and I absolutely NUTS.

Life Perspective Partnerships

The One Word That Saved Our Summer

August 4, 2020 by Brea Schmidt No Comments

This post is in proud partnership with the The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. As always – thoughts, words, experiences and opinions are my own. Learn more about my partnership disclosures HERE.

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Adventure.

It’s a word that became another member of our family when my kids were ages 4, 2 and brand new — and I wasn’t really capable of going many places on my own while maintaining sanity.

I was home… A LOT.

There were so many days of mundane, that when we DID do something (anything) new – I made sure they got EXCITED.

“We’re going on an ADVENTURE!” I’d yell from the kitchen into the living room where they were watching their favorite channel. They’d turn to find me whipping out an old cheerleading move to add to the pump-it-up vibe.

“Where, Mommy, Where?!” they’d yell.

“Well, today,” I said, “we are going to pack our special picnic blanket, and YOU are going to help decide what we are going to pack in our special picnic lunch, and we are going to take a walk to the pond and see how many ducks we can count. And guess what? You can put a piece of chocolate in with your lunches, too!”

“YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!” they’d scream, mirroring my attitude.

It wasn’t a vacation. It wasn’t a trip to the zoo. It wasn’t going to a water park. It wasn’t going to a local festival. It wasn’t taking a couple-hours trip in our car.

It was a walk. And a picnic. And a counting-duck event.

But WE made it an adventure.

Life Perspective

Christmas Isn’t About Expectations, It’s About Being Present

November 27, 2018 by Brea Schmidt No Comments

Yesterday was supposed to be tree-getting day.

But the tree place was closed. And the second tree place didn’t have big enough trees. And the kids were tired. And mom and dad were too.

So we scrapped it.

In holidays past, this would have wrecked me. I would have been frustrated that our favorite holiday tradition was getting interrupted, and sad that yet another thing I looked forward to wasn’t going to happen.

But yesterday… I let go.

I tossed my expectations up in the air with a dramatic raise of my arms… and I left them open to receive whatever else was supposed to be in store for us that night instead.And instead, we decided to come home and decorate the house anyway. EVEN THOUGH we typically do the tree and the house in one big family night as quite possibly my FAVORITE day of the entire year.

Christmas music. PJs. Hot chocolate. The works.

But instead of being upset that a part that cherished holiday tradition was missing, I embraced that we would get TWO family nights this week instead knowing we’ll get our tree in a couple of days.

I embraced the excitement of a fresh new house to work with and figuring out what our new holiday decor layout would look like.

I embraced a moment of realizing how far I’ve come in my work on myself that I did not let disappointment wreck me.

And I embraced THIS MOMENT right here.

THIS MOMENT when I was watching my 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son work together to put up our tiny side tree. Because I felt PRESENT. I wasn’t filling my mind with negativity about a tradition-gone-wrong … I was looking at my kids and realizing how special this year is.

How we have SO FEW Christmases where the magic and the belief will be strong with all three of them. And how I refuse to let expectations fill up so much space in my mind that I don’t leave room for authentic memories to happen.

Because the reality is tree places will be closed. Kids will be tired. Christmas lights will break. Holiday cookies will burn. Lines will be long. The gift you need will be backordered. The store will have every size but the one you need.

But Christmas will pass too.

And I don’t want to look back and realize I missed the magic that lives in letting go of a perfect vision … and simply living in the moments that are right in front of you.