Maximize

My kids are growing up. One by one, they’re leaving. And I find myself standing in the doorway of this new chapter with every emotion at once: I am scared. I am weepy. I am sad. I am glad. I am lost. I am found. All of it. At the same time.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, this message keeps coming back to me: maximize the moment you’re in. You are responsible for your thoughts. You are responsible for your emotions. No one else can carry that for you — and no one else should.

“It really isn’t as bad as YOU THINK. It really doesn’t matter as much as YOU think.”

Social media has given us a strange and dangerous gift: the ability to compare our insides to everyone else’s outsides. To self-diagnose at 2am. To let strangers narrate our identity. I’ve watched it damage families. I’ve watched it damage relationships. And I’ve watched it damage the quiet, beautiful voice inside each of us that says: you are enough.

Here is my advice for maximizing today: stop overthinking. Build someone up. Say something kind. Be the person in the room who sees the good in others, not the one who quietly keeps score.

My children are watching how I handle this season of letting go. I want them to see a mother who chooses faith over fear. Who chooses love over bitterness. Who chooses to maximize every moment, even the hard ones — especially the hard ones.