Two Weeks.

Hello my brave friend!

I woke up this morning and it was chilly! I had to run back in and grab a sweatshirt for my morning walk with Piper and it was one of those welcome surprises that caught me just a tad off guard. I absolutely adore fall weather. I love the crisp chilly feel of the morning that calls for my sweatshirt and I love seeing the steam rising off my coffee when I bring it outside to sit on the deck. And I love how the sun warms in the early afternoon and by 3:00pm it’s perfect for shorts again. This time of year calls for transition, yet it does it in the most gentle and inviting way! I love this time of year!

I was thinking about this as I helped two of my daughters prepare for back to school. As a junior and senior in high school they no longer want me to go with them school clothes shopping, opting instead to hop in the car together and head off without me. The first time I was gently but clearly dis-invited to this annual happening, it stung. How could this no longer be part of my fall experience? Ouch… it hurt a bit and I felt the evolution of my favorite season with a tinge of heaviness.  

Yet, watching my two very different daughters drive off, music playing, windows open, laughing and singing, I couldn’t help but love the new experience they were creating together. AND, I must admit, I didn’t miss the mall AT ALL!! I also loved the fashion show they put on for me when they got back, wanting me to see each item in sassy full expression. Things change, and when I stepped back, I loved what arrived in the place where I had let go. It felt less like a loss and more like growing into a fuller expression of who we are all becoming.

Thinking about this, I randomly recalled a conversation I had 23 years ago just after my oldest daughter was born. I was in the throes of sleep deprivation and utter confusion as I tried to figure out how to raise a tiny human on 20 minute naps, and no clue what I was doing. This wonderful mother of nine (yes, NINE) offered me a piece of advice that has served me so beautifully ever since. She said, “Nothing lasts more than two weeks. It will change… in some way or another. Just when you think you can’t do it anymore, it will shift. Nothing lasts longer than two weeks, the good, the bad… it all changes. So, when you are in it, know it won’t last and hold on. Two weeks. You can survive two weeks.”

She was right! Nothing lasts… and while the time frame isn’t always two weeks, there is always a shift that comes with time. When the girls were younger, I held tight to this wisdom. When one reverted to waking at night long after we had passed this phase, refused to eat or insisted on dressing themselves in the most ridiculous outfits for school, I remembered it won’t last more than two weeks… and it usually didn’t. Now, the timeline may have stretched, but the value of the advice holds strong. I feel that when one of my girls is grieving a breakup… I soothe her by saying the sorrow won’t last forever. I remind myself the same, that my frustration over missed curfews will fade soon enough. 

It won’t last, and you can survive the shift if you allow yourself to see the growth within the change.

And so my brave friends, this is your Mindful Mini invitation this week, nothing lasts more than two weeks! Lean into that and know that what arrives for you in the shift is an opportunity for a more beautiful expression of life as it grows! When you’re in struggle, those moments that feel too heavy won’t last. Hold onto the knowledge that it will shift and you can hang on until it does. And when your teenage daughters no longer want you to join them for back to school clothes shopping, it’s ok, watching them create their own experience together is exquisite! Nothing lasts for more than two weeks and growing opens up space for something wonderful. 

So, when my daughter climbed in bed with me the other night because she was feeling nervous about the coming school year, I wrapped her up and smiled. She still needs me but in a different way… it has shifted. I kissed her head and said, “This feeling won’t last love. In two weeks you’ll be settled and the nerves will be gone. Nothing lasts more than two weeks. You got this!” AND, you’ve got this my friend! You are so worth it!

Yours in heart,

Kelly Driscoll