Do you feel THAT?

Omg… Sometimes we just need to be reminded….

Today was SOOOO stressful…. Water heater tanked Friday and it took 3 days for someone to come out and tell us it needs replaced… (Uhhh DUHHHHH)..  The sound of it vibrating my house, issuing it to take flight was a good enough indicator for me, thanks….

Took a good few calls and some wasted money to get it replaced, but by the grace of GOD, we found a new plumber and all is right with the world…..

Yet the stress level needs to come down a bit, so on with a good movie…

For whatever reason, I chose City of Angels with Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage.  YES..it’s an oldie but a goodie…(although I didn’t think it at first, because the movie didn’t go as I had wanted it to…and was “triggered” (my daughters key phrase) at best…

That said, something begged me to call upon it tonight in my hours of stress and decompression….

And soon…I remembered why…

As my “sighs” came, one at a time, I am reminded of the simpler things life.  Like … you know… CHERISH THE MOMENTS….

I’m not trying to “movie review”, but I have been criticized so much for watching the same movies time and again, and I feel compelled to narrate my way out of it all….

The thing is this….NONE of us are getting out of this alive.  It’s just NOT gonna happen!  So, in the meantime, isn’t it nice to take “moments” and really suck them in and appreciate them?

Tonight throughout my stress, and through this movie…I am reminded of so many things, which is why it hits my soul….

Life is fleeting, people!  So many of us get stuck in the muck and myer of all the BS of day-to-day life…and we forget to stop and take a breath and step back for a moment…and RE-approach from a different angle.

As I watch this sweet movie, I see Nicholas Cage adore Meg Ryan in all that she is… her vulnerabilities, her strengths, her weaknesses… His goal is to admire her and her goal, in the end, is to show him all he’s missed…..

And I am reminded that once upon a time, when I met my husband…one of the cutest things I ever witnessed was this man-child, older college kid walking with his backpack slung around his shoulder as I watched his Popeye calves march forward.  I remember admiring his quick saunter as he moved from class to class.  He was short (and still is) and moved quicker than me.  His confidence was off the charts and it was OH-so attractive….  THIS was a man who was ready to conquer the world…..

I’m reminded that as the years of our lives have dredged on, that life has hit us a few times… and life’s struggles have worn on us… and our appreciation has waned at times…

Thankfully, we have persevered and my appreciation is great….

But when I see movies like City of Angels, I’m reminded that my appreciation can be greater…. The moments can be more precious… and his opinions heard louder….

I seriously love the moments when I realize I don’t have to be so critical to my other half…or even my children.

I have been criticized for not disciplining my kids enough… but in truth, I have disciplined them as much as I am possible… If I go beyond what I have done, I will be forcing issues I refuse to beat down…

At this time in my life…my kids know when I’m serious.  They know when I can blow stuff off, and they know when I am disappointed.

I wasn’t a stellar kid.  My kids are way better than me.  My measuring stick isn’t as high as others…

But the same goes true for the hubs… he doesn’t gush on me like some husbands to others… but he makes me laugh, constantly… his wit is so amazing to me, it trumps that which is important to others.

He may be short-tempered, but you have never seen me with PMS….or maybe you have…

The bottom line is this…

We are all perfectly imperfect.   We all need to be reminded to acknowledge the good we see in each other.  I know people who judge constantly and never see it.  They think a simple criticism is just an empty sentence…. But I assure you..it is NEVER empty….

Our intent is in our words.  Our words can heal….or they can harm….

In this night, where I see Nicholas Cage asking what a Pear tastes like to Meg Ryan, I am reminded…there are many sides of life.  Many moments of appreciation and many moments of criticism….

I’d rather spend my days celebrating that which I love…than picking away at that which I hate.  And I am happy to say that my dear hubs has demonstrated the same …. I know that for all the piles of clothes he walks over every day!  His denial is totally HOT, by the way….