Isn’t it a blessing that we aren’t able to see into the future?  That we only get to live life one moment at a time, in the present?

2014 was hard on my family.  It was the kind of year that one would want to skip if its events could have been known in advance.  After experiencing the indescribable joy of a new addition to the family at the end of 2013, things quickly went south for us.  My husband lost his job (his employer downscaled); our kids were hospitalized numerous times; we moved to a new province, leaving behind all that was near and dear to us; and, in the midst of it all, I was frantically trying to be Supermom.  It was exhausting.

Last year brought unfathomable hardships to my family, but also a lesson for which I’m eternally thankful.

No matter how dire our situation seemed, we would always, without exception, cross paths with someone whose situation was far worse.  In every single instance, however, I was humbled by how they handled their situation with grace and even joy.

Take, for example, our beloved 59-year old nanny, with her beautiful toothless smile, whom we had to leave behind, unemployed, after moving to a new city.  Still jobless after almost six months of non-stop job hunting, she still smiles at my inquiries and says: “Don’t worry, Madam, I’ll find something.”  Or take the lovely young couple who occupied the bed next to ours in the pediatric ward during one of our hospital stays.  Their gorgeous, tiny, one-month old son was admitted for non-stop seizures.  Despite their own exhaustion and worry, this couple (and their parents, too) were the calmest, friendliest people in the ward, and enveloped their son and grandson with nothing but love.  My list goes on and on.

So I enter 2015 determined to remember to count my blessings.  Always and in all circumstances.  Despite our year in the figurative wilderness, I realize I’m incredibly blessed to be a mom to two precious children and to be married to a man who’s my greatest supporter and fan.  What a joy to be able to share this adventure called life.  By any measure, I am richly blessed.

What unexpected lessons have you learned from the years that you might have preferred to skip if you’d known in advance how difficult they’d be?  

This is an original post written by Karien P. in South Africa for World Moms Blog.  She can also be found on her blog, Running the Race.

Photo credit: Rebecca Wilson and used under a Flickr Creative Commons License

Karien Potgieter

Karien Potgieter is a full-time working mom of two toddlers. She has a master’s degree in ecology and works in the conservation sector in beautiful South Africa. Her other big passion, apart from her family and caring for the environment, is running. To date she’s participated in races on three continents and in six countries and she dreams of travelling to and running in many, many more. You can follow her and her family’s running adventures on her blog, Running the Race (http://www.runningtherace.co.za).

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