Ups and Downs

Life, for all of us, seems to bring its ups and downs.   The 'ups' don't come to us in the same ways, nor do the 'downs'... and most of us will respond to them in the same ways.The pleasant occurances bring feelings of  happiness and  sometimes pride.  The less than joyous days bring us emotions of sadness or heavy hearts.  We've all been there,  so you know what I mean.

Recently one of my daughters had a major surgery. I was 'itching' to go back to Long Island to nurse her back to health. Because our kids either share homes with someone, or the one that they live in is already too small for its residents comfort, there is always the issue of where to stay when we go back home.  Knowing that fact, and that she had a good support group of friends and family members there to care for her, my daughter insisted that we stay here, and come later in the Fall when she'd feel better. It was one of those events that caused me to feel that heaviness that comes from wanting to make sure your child is safely cared for while recuperating, and knowing you can't 'fix' it. 

What do you do in such a case? You deal with it the best way you can. I've always been one to 'look it in the eye' and deal with it, not try to run from it, or wallow in it either. You can suffer through, or you can do what I did, and just say, 'I can't be there. It IS what it IS", and I just went about my day right here....900 miles from my daughter. That is NOT to say that the wanting to be there stopped! Oh no! It kept cropping up....it nagged me. It woke me up at night, at which times I spent praying for my daughter and her care givers. 

The 'uppers' are easy to deal with.  You just share the joy with others, or you just 'float around' in you own little bubble of happiness.  I always savor those happy times and am grateful for them.

Emotions are such delicate things, and they are sometimes difficult to manage. They are fickle, coming and going as they choose. I guess the solution is to just take hold of them and wrangle with the things until you can manage them, rather than letting them rule you.  It's all about a balance, I think.  

Sometimes I think I really AM a control freak.....but in this case, that's not such a bad thing, is it?