It Gets Better...
The beautiful views from this part of the country,
The issues we struggle with,
Life!
Thank you so much for your comments and e-mails about my post yesterday:
Learning With and For Our Children...This Mother's Beginning Steps in Learning About OCD
It can be hard enough when we tell our own stories of struggle and growth but it can be even harder telling the stories from our life that involve our children and their struggles. The biggest part of me wants to keep these stories to myself. Partly to protect my kids and keep their personal struggles private but more because it is just difficult to share something that is so personally painful. Seeing our kids have a difficult time in life is hard. Period. And often, we can feel alone. Embarrassed even. It's easy to feel like we did something wrong as a parent even though we know better when it comes to certain things like OCD. Our struggles and personal frustrations in seeing our kids hurt is huge to us as parents no matter how small of an issue it is in comparison to the grand scheme of life. Somebody always has it far worse than we do. Yes. But I've learned to recognize these painful parts of my life as just as important...because they are important to me... they are part of My Story. I'm almost always glad when I share it because more often than not, there is someone else out there that is dealing with the same or similar things and it is so nice to know we aren't alone. I'm glad I decided to write about this topic and I will continue to share more as it comes. So much to learn in life! Thankful for the mind and resources to do so.
Today proved to be one of healing and rejuvenation! We were so blessed with an opportunity to drop our kids off with a friend and take off for the beautiful Appalachian Trail right outside of Hot Springs, North Carolina at Max Patch. Wow! After a trail run, picnic on a hilltop, and a beer and burger in the small town of Hot Springs, my husband surprised me with a visit to the Hot Springs Spa for a private soak in a mineral bath. The stress just melted off today. THANKFUL!
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| I can think of nobody else I'd rather take on life with! I love him! |
Two videos. Fist one from on top of of the Max Patch crest. The second one is from down in the forest. So glad I didn't offer my sandwich to the hikers from Illinois. That would have been awkward. Ha!
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| Driving here after our run was a pleasant surprise! |
Amanda
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