Passion Comes in Little Things by Melissa Swedoski
Whenever I hear someone speak of passion, I’m not going to lie – I think about romance novels. You can laugh, but haven’t we sort of been trained to think of passion in a romantic, even sexual, sense? You’ve seen the book covers or the DVD covers. Passion! Hot, sexy, passion!! (exclamation points make it more passionate)
The truth is, though, that passion falls under a lot of categories. I’m passionate about Mexican food, buying really cute shoes, giving our kids the best that we can, fighting social injustice and lots more. It goes without saying I’m passionate about my family – I’d fight to the death for any one of them if necessary.
If I had to pick what I’m most passionate about these days, though, it’s enjoying every moment of every day for what it is – good, bad and indifferent. When we owned a weekly newspaper, I was passionate about building our circulation, improving our reputation, making some money and having fun. At some point, though, it wasn’t as much fun. It was work. My dream job had become more of a waking nightmare. And that had to change.
When Annie was born, every one of my priorities shifted. I became passionate about her, about my husband and our marriage, and about enjoying what I had for the most I possibly could. So leaving Annie with my very closest friend for just two days a week made me weep. Some nights we got home so late she was already asleep. It crushed me.
That’s when Thomas and I took a huge leap of faith and sold our business, without one 
single plan in place. We just knew it was time for a change, and that became my passion. We were one of the lucky ones, as we sold our house within one week of it going on the market. We put everything in storage, moved in with my dad, and started looking for our new home, with a 1 year old in tow and a baby in my belly.
We found our corner of the universe, and thus began my new passion: making this life the best life for all of us, enjoying the big things and little things, sharing with each other rather than focusing on what the business required, taking a chance on a new career. And spending a whole lot more time outdoors.
I’m not saying it’s easy, and there are some days I’m not very passionate about it at all. The days when the kids are whining and clinging to my every step, when I can’t write a post without being interrupted 20 different times. The days when the unexpected bills make me cringe and wonder how we’re going to get the money for that.
Karaoke Queen
But the passion-filled days outnumber the others. The days when I can read to my babies, play in the yard, swim in the pool, draw pictures on the chalkboard, have family karaoke night and nap in the bed with any or all of them. And not worry one minute about covering a school board meeting or a football game or a robbery at the convenience store. Only worry about teething, eating, learning ABCs, date night with my husband and taking pictures of the memory moments.
Oh, and trying to get a blog post written. :)
Tags: children, daughter, family, kids, later mom, later parenting, love, marriage, midlife motherhood, motherhood, passion, toddlers
