Life. It's so damn hard sometimes. (who am I kidding- often it seems like it's always hard.)
What is also hard- for me at least- is not dwelling on all the things that went wrong throughout the day. And I'm not talking about external things necessarily, but more like it's hard for me to stop dwelling on what I could have or "should have" done better. (I actually don't believe in "shoulds", but that's a story for another day...)
"I could have been more patient."
"I could have spent more time with my kids instead of... x, y, z...."
"I could have reached out to that person I knew needed a friend."
"I could have exercised when I was stressed instead of eating those cookies."
"I could have planned dinner in advance instead of making last-minute tacos. Again."
"I could have put my work away and played a game, or made the time to just listen."
Several years ago, I came across a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I return to it often. I hope that if you also struggle at the end of the day, this will help you to let things go and find a little peace.
"Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in;
Forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit
To be encumbered with your old nonsense."
*Although often presented as such, this is not a poem but an excerpt of prose from a letter Emerson wrote to his daughter, who was away at school and greatly troubled by something. It is quoted in James Elliot Cabot’s A Memoir of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1887).
Thanks for reading. Wishing you peace.
xo
