A 50/50 Life
I’ve been thinking about the 50/50 model of human experience theses past few days. This model asserts that life is about 50% positive emotions and 50% negative emotions for most humans. Maybe we can swing it one way or another by a few points, but overall this is it . . . 50/50. We appreciate peace so much more after we’ve experienced chaos. We feel deeper gratitude for our health once we’ve been seriously ill. We learn through this contrast in all aspects of our lives. But here is the human thing… most of us don’t want to feel or accept negative emotions, so we avoid them, buffer them or ignore them all together. This gives negativity more power and more internal space than the 50% it already owns. As negative emotions take up more of our time and thoughts, they crowd out the 50% happiness, leaving us with an imbalance which can look more like 70/30 or 80/20.
This week was amazing for me! (I can say this now that it is over and I’ve had a good night's sleep.) This week was Grammie Camp, a time for Peter and I and our grandchildren that I hope will be glorious. I spend lots of time planning and organizing everything from activities to food, crafts to bedtime stories. It is an all hands on deck experience and we go hard in the fun department. I was going to post some of the wonderful pictures of the events . . . but as I was selecting a few darling pics, I realized that the pictures didn’t quite tell the whole story. Even Grammie Camp is a 50/50 event.
It was the best of times . . . and it had some messy moments. I had to coach myself to accept that 6 active kids going full speed for 4 days are going to fuss, argue and leave their stuff all over the place! How many times did we run that dishwasher???? One of activities I had planned for fell through at the last minute, and I couldn’t even begin to describe how tired I was each night. With some strong self coaching, I accepted it all, and felt it all, which left enough room to feel some incredibly magical moments. The joy of surprising and delighting them, of watching them play and create. The pride I felt in seeing them all pitch in to clean up or to help each other in small ways. I loved getting to know them better and creating experiences they will never forget together. I love seeing the whole picture and I realize...
I want it all.