I came home last night to her and her daddy painting together in the living room. A simple task of playing with her but it teaches her so much at the same time. Love. Family. Time together. Cherished moments. The joy in her squeak as she gets a new paint color is so simple but so powerful. If only we could remember and reflect on these moments more. At the end of the day all I want is a happy, healthy, and kind baby girl, to teach her to love everyone, and to find joy in the simple things especially on dark days like these. – posted on my instagram earlier this week –
If you follow me on here you tend to know I post mostly about food, recipes, meal planning, and nutrition information. Sometimes I throw in some mama & baby friendly chat because that’s just the season of my life right now and it’s on my brain a lot. When I’m working with someone one on one for nutrition counseling or educating a group, I often talk about setting priorities for oneself. That could be food-related or overall wellness related like daily exercise, importance of sleep, and whole body self-care like finding things you like doing and spend your valuable time with people you love.
But today, as I was trying to figure out what recipe I wanted to share or nutrition topic I wanted to write about, I was scrolling through my facebook feed (no judgements please as I know there can be an overwhelming amount of negative -for lack of a better word- crap on there) and noticed a story about a young man’s marriage proposal plans ruined during their recent trip to Vegas.
And after a pretty chaotic and stressful work week, this felt like the first time I had really been able to sit down and emotionally process what terrible news we’ve all been digesting this week. It was really the first time I had gotten to sit down a read one of the stories from the victims. I shouldn’t do this. I know it will make me upset and make me cry. But I want to know these people. We spend so much getting to know the person that commits the crime and but not as much getting to know all the 58 victims. And right now, my heart (and eyes) just burst with pain for them especially as they story shared how they had plans to start a family right away.
It makes me think about what if I had never had the chance to get married, have kids, and to know that kind of love and joy. All that I am right now, is my family. I do everything for them. Work. Prepare food. Carve as much time as humanly possible to be with them- all while still trying to keep myself sane.
And I just got to thinking, how could someone possibly think they ever have the right or control to take that away from them? You shoot blindly into a crowd of people trying to enjoy an evening, away from the stress and worry of their daily lives. You are so angry at the world that you think- what? – that hurting others will make you feel better? That complete strangers are the source of your pain? Doing this evil will solve any of your problems?
We may not ever know what this man was thinking. And I realize this is a complex and emotional issue for everyone, but even above my pain and sadness for the victims and their loved ones, I am so angry.
I’m angry that these families and friends have to endure such grief. I’m angry that our country is so divided and cannot come to together on most issues a majority of the time. Sure we may be unified during these times of tragedy, but very quickly we can become separated and not have empathy or understanding for others’ beliefs, values, and opinions. I’m angry that we have second thoughts now about going out to events with our families and friends in fear that we – or our children- or may not come home.
So why do we do the things we do? Why do we stress about work; tire ourselves endlessly to put our children in the best schools, have the best food, be the best that they can be?
When I reflect on this, I find that I live the way I do for my child (soon to be children) so they can have not only happy and healthy lives, but also to be honest, hard working, KIND and LOVING people one day. So that maybe the world can be a better place one child at a time.
Is this the ultimate prevention of evil in the world- raising a world of loving and compassionate people? Probably not, but wouldn’t it be nice to just have everyone strive for something so simple that would better us all? Maybe then the world would be a better place?
All I know is that we just gotta keep doing what we can. The best we can. Everyday. For our children! Work hard, be honest, caring, compassionate, educated individuals who are willing to listen and work towards positive change for all.
This may not be directly food & nutrition related, but it’s health-related. It’s a priority. It’s our lives and our future. Change is hard; we all know this. But we must progress towards a change.
I hope you have a relaxing, enjoyable and stress-free weekend with your loved ones.
xo,
Becca
twistednutritionblog.com 