LMKTM: Know When To Walk Away

 In LMKTM

My daughter Ella is now 20 months old and as full of sass and spunk as she is sweetness and sugar. Like her two older brothers before her, she holds a true and deep love for one very particular thing: food. I have heard tales from parents of picky eaters and I find myself completely unable to understand their woes, because there is rarely a food my children meet that they are not in love with. Even just recently a picture popped up on my Facebook feed (why is that memories feature always trying to make me cry??) of my oldest son when he was just a wee babe, and I got a great laugh over remembering what a precious little roly poly he used to be!

The other day, I noticed that Ella had finished her breakfast, so I took her plate and moved her out of her booster seat. Cue the meltdown. Ella was apparently not ready to be done with breakfast (even though she had eaten it all), and, as soon as I set her on the ground, she pulled her chair back out and started to climb right back into it. I was simultaneously impressed and annoyed by her persistence, gently guiding the tiny, screaming child away from the table and into another part of the house, where I hoped distraction would help her soon forget her breakfast completion sadness.

How many times have I acted like a petulant child who refuses to walk away from something, even when the time to walk away is obvious to everyone but (and sometimes including) me? How often have I insisted on staying in a relationship, a job, or a false hope long after their time has come and gone? How many times have I, like sweet Ella, returned to the table (whatever that table may be) and tried to climb right back up in my chair (whatever that chair may be), even though I know it’s time for me to move on?

Today, let’s not be stuck in places that we’re best to move on from. Let’s remove our blinders, take a look around, and move forward. Let’s not be caught in the past, unable to achieve new levels of dream and accomplishment, simply because we are too stubborn and set in the way we think things should be. When we finally do walk away, we’ll find promise, new dreams and promises, and joy are there, just waiting for us. Today, let’s know when to walk away.

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