Mama in the City

A blog about raising my family in downtown Vancouver

The Happiness Balance

I'm that person who is happiest when I have something to look forward to. It helps me to focus and get through busy times when I'm feeling over extended. If I know that something good is just around the corner, the anticipation of it strongly motivates me to get through the hard moments. Sometimes those moments come at 4 AM on a night shift or when my sweet little Ben acts like a toddler who is in the throws of being two years old.

A warm Hawaiian vacation can definitely give you something to look forward in the middle of your heavy work week, but so can little things. I looked forward to this morning because I was looking forward to going on one of my favourite family outings; taking the aquabus over to have coffee at Agro Cafe on Granville Island. We sit and sip cappuccinos and eat eggs and just live slowly in the moment together. The dishes may be piled up at home, but in that moment it doesn't matter.

My husband snuck in a candid shot of me day dreaming and enjoying the perfect cappuccino. Perk of being married to a photographer.



Tonight we are having a night out, which is also one of my top 5 things to look forward to. Before we became parents we went out a lot. Out for fancy dinners, off to wine bars, and out to various late night events downtown. Of course, our social life took the obvious turn once we had Ben. Tonight we are dining out with our friends, I plan to enjoy the evening slowly and savour my glass of Prosecco.

There are many moments when I wish time would speed by, and then there are moments where I purposefully take the time to keep things slow. Sometimes it may only be 10 minutes of being mindful and not rushing away the moment and other times it's been days of just being in the moment and enjoying. Other times it's the small and simple things, like lounging in bed with my son and reading book after book after book. Other times it is an evening out like tonight.

I still struggle with finding my life balance that makes me my happiest. I move between wishing away my time and fighting for it back.

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