The other night at 9:00 p.m., I told Truett I was going to bed. I was just too exhausted to stay up one minute longer. He slumped his shoulders and hung his head and said, "Be with me."
Good Lord! I had been with him all day for hours. He just doesn't get it. But, I agreed to be with him for thirty more minutes; however, in the meantime, I snatched up a piece of paper and began listing ALL of the things I do that might cause me to feel so exhausted. Here are a few:
Take Truett to doctor appointments. Take Mom to doctor appointments. Take Clay to appointments. Take the cats to the vet. Take the puppies to the vet. Clean the cat box, bag garbage, Take Truett to the dentist, take Mom to the dentist, take Clay to SSI appointments. Laundry, grocerying, putting away groceries, cooking meals, cleaning up after meals, take Truett to the audiologist, take Mom to the oncologist, answer the phone, deal with business calls, help Truett with his shower, help Mom with her shower, feed the inside cats and dogs, feed the outside cats, get the paper, get the mail, pay bills, deal with the cars, . . .
The list goes on and on. It's enough to make me exhausted just reading it.
But, then, miraculously I thought about things I do during the day that give me pleasure so I wrote them down and put a star beside them. Here are a few:
Hold Truett's hand, watch Judge Judy and Two and a Half Men, and of course . . .NCIS! Talk to my sister on the phone, go to my psychologist once a month, go to Dr. Prine who drains fluid from my knee ever so often. I'm waiting for the "big shot" in January, thank goodness.
More things that I do that calm me down and make me happy during my days: take photographs, check e-mails and Facebook, visit my family on weekends, watch Gator football and basketball on TV. . .
. . . Love on the puppies and the cats, even though they are exhausting because they are so demanding. . .
. . . and talk to my sister almost everyday of my life.
Pretty soon the little things were beginning to out-weigh the bigger, more demanding things; and my heart was feeling lighter. I thought of more positive things I do daily. Here's one. . . Sit on the front porch and watch birds.
Yes, I do everything, and at the end of every day, I am exhausted.
But, I've learned that once Mom goes to bed at 9:00 (and sometimes I have to remind her that I've about had it with the day), well, then I've learned that if I be with Truett for thirty more minutes and hold his hand, he's happy and ultimately, I feel like I've completed a full day and then I can go to bed and exhale.
Whew!
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