Are We?

Are we? This question has served my family well over the years. It has been a shining star to light our path and a pillar for many if not all large decisions in our family unit.

• Are we kind? YES!
• Are we people who push on the play ground because someone pushed us? Never Ever!
• Are we sports focused? Sometimes
• Are we church goers? Yes!

Certain seasons we are more things than others but it has created a compass of sorts to help create the parameters of what we are and what we aren’t. This question last year was a question we spent time chewing on over a specific question:

Are we a family w/a pet? Our golden of 12 years passed Last Labor Day weekend and she was so perfect we worried another pet after her would scare us. Or even worse be a pet with bad behavior and trauma to such an extent it would leave a horrible situation on our hands. We also weren’t sure we wanted to start all over again when travel is such a big thing for our family.

We hemmed and hawed our it for thirteen straight months. We created pros and cons and what ifs.

• Are we a boy or girl pet family?
• Are we dogs or bunny or goldfish kinda people?
• Are we a big dog or little dog family?
• Are we a rescue or a puppy family?
• Are we a dog family at all or do we just want to get a pet turtle?

This question has served us so deeply it has created a consistence and guide post in so much of lives that our children now ask us often. “Mommy, are we going to travel to NYC one day? Mommy, are you still a ballerina? Are we rich?”

So for this season, as we think on the closing of another year I ask you a few things:

• What is most needed in this season?
• What are you or aren’t you?
• Are you able to commit to this?
• Are you over extending ourselves?
• Are you serving and thinking of others?
• Are you at peace?
• Are you doing this out of joy or out of a sense of obligation?

If you find yourself with big or small decisions I encourage you to use this phrase to find out who you really are and what you really are all about. It creates such a balance in busyness and work and it give continuity and an equilibrium to all at life’s endeavors. To make a long story short we decided… we are a pet family and he is not a turtle. There are so many ways you can ask yourself if you are going to add or subtract to your life but when you phrase it “Are we … it holds more weight.

For example: Do you want to take piano lessons is far more different than asking Are we a family that does multiple activities for multiple people or are we a family that chooses one activity per person per season? Both are not wrong questions but one tells you who you are.

So who are you? Who do you want to be?