I Believe... Do You?

There is much in this world I do not know. As a parent, that is a difficult thing to admit or, at the very least, to explain to my ever-curious children. But, in my years on this planet, living, learning, studying, and, in case I didn't stress it enough, living, there are some things I can tell that I do believe. I am comfortable telling my children and anyone else willing to read/listen.

I Believe:

I believe in celebrating Birthdays. I do. I think that a birthday isn’t nearly enough time to celebrate the person of honor; a week or even a month is more fitting. What better way to honor the person you love (including yourself) than to do up the time surrounding the birthday. So many people get down of aging, worry about numbers, and fret attention. I say allow joy to permeate the people around you, blow up balloons, serve cake, and sing! Life is too serious without wonderful occasions like birthdays to celebrate. I believe in celebrating birthdays. Do you?

I believe in Santa Claus. I do. He exists as surely as love and charity. I believe because without Santa Claus the world is bleak, unloving, and cold. Magic, wonder and excitement exist and so does Santa Claus. I leave my stocking out every December 24 and every morning of December 25 it is filled with surprises from the Big Man. I believe in living my life like Santa Claus; I help those who need it, surprise people unexpectedly with kindnesses, and try to sprinkle a bit of magic in all I do throughout the year. I believe in Santa Claus and always will. Do you?

I believe in love. I do. There are millions of songs, books, movies, and magazine articles that discuss heartbreak, separation, lost love, and divorce, but I chose to revel in the ones that optimistically spout about love. I take my cues from romance novels where the heroine stays with the hero. I agree with “Midnight Train to Georgia” when Gladys Knight sings about, “I’d rather be in his world, than live without him in mine.” I believe in reinventing oneself and the relationship to keep it moving forward. I believe in sticking out the years together and having no regrets about what might have been. I believe that making love a priority is enough to keep a relationship going. That valuing one another is the key to sticking it out when the going gets tough. These ideas/ideals are not easy. They are indeed the paramount of hard and difficult. But, I do believe that anything worth having is worth working hard. Do you?

I believe in a Higher Power. I do. I cannot explain everything there is to know about the Higher Power, but I do believe in its existence, its omnipotence, and its import in my life. I can attest without a shadow of a doubt I have been witness to my Higher Power’s power. The details are private, personal, and not for a public forum, but I do believe. And, having come from a place and time when I didn’t believe, believing has made a world of difference. I believe that there is something much more powerful than “me”. Do you?

I believe in my children. Having children is rewarding, yes, but so dang difficult that it can crush you if you don’t find a way to handle all of the stresses. Having children forces one to be so much less selfish and so much more “someone else”-centered. By putting time, patience, education, love, energy, support, and faith into my children, I am investing in their future as well as mine. I believe that they are the best part of their father and me and yet are so vastly different because they are uniquely themselves. I believe that I would be friends with my children even if they weren’t my children. I believe that is a very important thing, to raise likable children. And I believe that putting the time and effort, discipline and indulgence, and a whole lot of love, hugs, and kisses is a small debt for a large payoff in the end. Do you?

These are some of the very important things I believe in my life. This list is not meant to be preachy, pushy, or directed at any one person or group. I believe in sharing my life and beliefs on these “pages”. I believe that I am leaving a very lovely legacy with my thoughts for my children to read one day. The fact that you all stop by to read simply adds to my belief that the world is full of good, kind, and wonderful people. Do you?