Be All You Can Be

Earlier today, this old US Army slogan popped into my head.

Be All You Can Be.

Not be more than you can be.  Not be what other people want you to be.  Not be what you thought you might be if the situation was different.

Being all you can be is all about embracing the now.  Living as best as you can right this very moment without thoughts of the woulds, coulds and shoulds. 

We're doing that a lot lately here. 

It's actually a hard thing to do as a parent, because as parents, we want the best for our children.  But then that brings up a good question: what IS "best?"  I think we are trained to think of "best" as the same as "more," but it's not. 

On Thursday, Mike and I had a meeting with 7 spectacular people from Vivian's school.  We're at a point again where we need to make some changes to better accomodate her needs - which practically change by the minute (no exaggeration there).  About half way through our 2-hour meeting it occurred to me that while maybe not externally, I've been pushing - been wanting more for Viv than is reasonable right now.  I've been so afraid that doing anything less would be settling or not giving her access to all of those experiences I've wanted her to have. 

I'm very in tune with Vivian and know what she's capable of.  But those capabilities are very much at the mercy of her health, and the more we can go with the flow and focus on the "cans" of the moment, the more successful she'll be and the happier she'll be.  And when you're 11 and plagued by terrible seizures, powerful OCD, tiredness, and other various yucky stuff, happiness means a lot.

And couldn't we all use a bit more happy?