Take a Deep Breathe

Today was that day that happens after you get home from a vacation, that makes you wonder briefly why you went on vacation. That day when the mounds of dirty vacation laundry needs to be done. That day when you need to start sorting through the junk mail, answering the emails, returning the voice mails. That day when it's time to restock the fridge and time to clean up the mess you left in the sink when you took off. That day when the kids have decided that they aren't as glad to be home as they were that first night when they rejoiced in seeing the cat and having their own pillows back. That day when you began to wish you didn't know how fabulous it felt to have doting relatives to tend to your children's every whim so that you can think in straight line for more than ten second--because it makes the days a little longer than they were before you knew.

I made some small progress today, but it sure was a long day. Baby Bear became drastically more mobile during the trip, so I stayed up late last night re-vamping the living room (otherwise known as the Containment Facility) to accommodate his training-for-a-triathlon routine. I then folded three loads of laundry and went to bed feeling efficient and effective, only to wake up and spend most of the day dithering.

Tonight we spent FHE talking about Doing Your Best. I find myself often struggling between these two extremes:

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
--General George S. Patton (1885-1945)

Try your hardest and that is good enough, even if you don't accomplish what you set out to do.

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
--Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')

Trying is for wimps.

I don't have the answer for how to balance it all, but this keeps me going:

"I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass."
--Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008)

Everything's gonna be alright, regardless of how many things are left on your list at the end of the day.