March 2009
President’s Podium
Everything always seems to work out in the end.
Our world can completely stop because of any number of things – the careless handling of a now broken family heirloom, the $1,200 estimate to have the car repaired, the neighbor who deliberately sets out to upset you, the loss of a job or the death of a loved one. Whenever there’s a “blip” on the radar screen of our lives, we tend to stay with it for a time and then eventually end up mustering up the energy to put one foot in front of the other and move on.
My life has been a series of successes and failures, hills and valleys, ups and downs. Looking back, I see how much time I waste being filled with anxiety for big things and small. I can freak out over the new grape juice spill in my living room or rearrange my furniture. I can furrow my brow with worry when I notice fewer groceries in my shopping cart or I can clip coupons, buy no fills and learn to make due with what I have. I can continue to nurture an angry heart or I can choose to opt in the way of peace and forgiveness. I see now that my worry never accomplished anything, aside from perpetuating a state of imbalance. And if I allow the imbalance for too long, it takes on a life of its own, rolling downhill like a snowball, gaining strength and momentum. In every situation, however tragic or miniscule, I eventually learn to problem solve or adapt. Things always work out in the end.
Fourteen years ago I was the Operations Manager for the Gap at the Americana Shopping Center in Manhasset. I had just returned to work after the loss of my mother. While outside on my lunch break, I sat on a bench, in deep grief, sipping my coffee, lost in thoughts of the new life I was expected to lead without my mother in it. As shoppers bounced by with their many purchases, it suddenly occurred to me that while my loss had put my world in a muffled and ‘slow motion’ state, these passersby were oblivious to my pain. They were smiling and conversing and continuing on in life at the same exact time that my heart was terribly broken. “Wow. The Earth is still spinning.” I thought to myself.
Life has a way of touching each of us in wonderful and not so wonderful ways. In 2009, our world is an especially scary place. We can choose to allow the unsteadiness of today’s world to rock our boats or we can take comfort in our club and each other - the many members it supports. It is within this club that we can gain the strength and encouragement we need to make some certainty in an uncertain world. Although life doesn’t always twist and turn the way we’d like, as long as we’re people needing people, everything really always does work out in the end.
Come to the next General Meeting - March 17 @ 7:30pm. There are women in a wide scale of ages, with all types of families, some multiples newborn, some going off to college and beyond. We’re all celebrating and suffering at the same time in one way or another so JUST COME and have a cup of coffee while you receive an encouraging word or two from a fellow mother of twins or triplets. The relationships we nurture in our lives are what get us through all kinds of times.
Peace, Love & Twins,
Mary Grace Roach
President, NCMOTC