Reconnecting

Reconnecting...if I had to choose one word to describe what is going on in my life right now this would be it. Much has happened since last I wrote some easy, some happy, some challenging, some sad and all caused me to keep growing.

First, I picked up some part-time work to help keep our finances balanced. Aside from the obvious of making a monetary contribution this endeavour allowed me an opportunity to work on my socialization skills and connect with other adults. It helped me to realize how isolated I had let my life become and I enjoyed the challenge of crafting conversations and making connections with people.

Second, life got busy with the kids fall activities of gymnastics, skating, and hockey. Often hubby and I were working on the divide and conquer method of parenting to make sure everyone was where they needed to be. Winter activities have been the same. I love seeing them progress and learn, then have the space to demonstrate their progress. 

Third, after our wonderful Christmas and time with family the new year greeted us with tragedy. A deadly car crash suddenly took away a very special person from our lives. A wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt and a friend to so many more. Needless to say, the first two months of 2014 vanished as we dealt with our own grief and opened our lives to comfort the family. Our connections to this family are many and deep although in recent years a distance had crept in as all us children moved on with our own lives. Amidst the sadness was the realization that this was an opportunity to reconnect and it has personally challenged me to reconnect in many other areas of my life. 

Reconnecting is not always easy as I am learning through my recent efforts. I have been working hard to be engaged in the here and now, making sure the people I spend time with know how important they are to me. I am consciously choosing to build up my children and to tell them often how much they are loved.  I have also been working on deepening my relationship with my hubby and taking time for just us. 

Friendship is another area I am working to reconnect. I love my family absolutely; however, I have come to see through my time away from them, that I can be a better person for them by allowing myself to connect with others who can feed in to me. Friendship has always been a struggle for me and so it has been easier to simply avoid them.  I was overwhelmed at the services for our lost friend as how many people felt a connection to her. Looking around I realized that with the choices I was making in life I would not have that and resolved to start making some changes and so far it has been pretty good. It is still hard but now I see the value and will continue to work on it.

Oh, I have also decided to look at the possibility of going back to work full-time. This would mean finding the right opportunity and so I have enrolled in a program to ensure I am current on the desirable  qualities. 

So that is where life is right now and in this effort to reconnect I felt it an opportune time to get back to writing.  So, hopefully you will hear from me more and more frequently.