God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me. –Author unknown
One of the hardest lessons in life for me has been accepting that I can’t change people, just my reaction to them. Lately though, it has been easier and each day gets easier than the day before it.
My husband has been out of work and looking for a job for over a year. The stress that comes with that is plentiful. Health insurance, the mortgage, groceries… the list goes on. Add to that work, running a business, keeping the house going and staying on top of the kids.
I’ve learned many lessons… I’ve cried, screamed, argued and felt like giving up on this journey. But a quitter I am not and it could always be worse (although it could always be better too). I’m fighting hard not to become a statistic – it is very true that financial strife is a marriage killer.
This leads me back to changing my reaction to people. I no longer accept other people and their crap as my own. You know those friends/family members that call to dump their nonsense in your lap so you can make them feel better. Or, and this may just be me, the friend/family member that is constantly lying and you are left confused as to what is true and what isn’t. You are left damned either way – for your choice to react or lack thereof.
It takes too much energy to have these types of people in my life. And I seem to have a handful of them. There are so many things that happen in life that I cannot control. I’m choosing to control as many of them that I can. That includes finally letting going of friends and family members if necessary. Depending on how well you know me… this is huge for me. But it must be done… That’s all.
