Our apartment for Vancouver is now secured. It looks like baby's first home will be a ground-level apartment with hardwood floors and a decent amount of space (and killer rent!) We're also in a fun, liveable, walkable neighbourhood, mainly to keep ourselves sane as the coming insanity unfolds (Marpole if you're familiar with Van). We've got one out of two jobs taken care of, and we're knocking off our final Ottawa obligations and mindfully saying our goodbyes one by one. We'll be hitting the road to drive out to BC in three short weeks!
I had another thought after yesterday's post. If you recall, I was talking about the fears that occasionally come up as you're presented with a bunch of unknowns. Basically, I don't think I acknowledged squarely enough how important it is to celebrate the victories and accomplishments you've already had. While my parents were spending so much time fretting about money as I was growing up, they weren't acknowledging the good things we did have. We were all well fed. We always had a roof over our heads and new clothes. We lived in a really beautiful city, with stunning natural settings. There was a ton of possibility everywhere we looked.
To put it bluntly, I think that by always focusing on what you don't have, you end up miserable. So indulge me in a brief tally, if you will. I have a smart, beautiful wife, and a kid on the way. I have an amazingly loving and supportive family and fantastic friends. I have the cutest 15-year-old cat in the world. I have a PhD in a discipline I love. To boot, I'm moving to a city that I've wanted to live in for the past ten years. I have been able to spend the past year writing and learning and thinking. In brief, life is good.
The point is that true happiness comes from gratitude. Gratitude focuses on the present, and I honestly feel that over time it opens up great things for the future. I say this not in some mystical sense, but just because I think good things come to people who are open and happy and thankful. I'm thankful that you read this blog, and I hope that you, too, find yourself reasonably happy.
If I must tie all this meandering monologue back to the relevant topic at hand, babies, I think that it will be important to set the example of gratitude for the baby when it arrives. We may not all end up with the Lamborghini of baby strollers or the Fallingwater of living spaces, but if we fixate on that, then we're missing that fact that we have the luxury, among other things, of being able to sit around reading about babies on the Internet of computers.
I had another thought after yesterday's post. If you recall, I was talking about the fears that occasionally come up as you're presented with a bunch of unknowns. Basically, I don't think I acknowledged squarely enough how important it is to celebrate the victories and accomplishments you've already had. While my parents were spending so much time fretting about money as I was growing up, they weren't acknowledging the good things we did have. We were all well fed. We always had a roof over our heads and new clothes. We lived in a really beautiful city, with stunning natural settings. There was a ton of possibility everywhere we looked.
To put it bluntly, I think that by always focusing on what you don't have, you end up miserable. So indulge me in a brief tally, if you will. I have a smart, beautiful wife, and a kid on the way. I have an amazingly loving and supportive family and fantastic friends. I have the cutest 15-year-old cat in the world. I have a PhD in a discipline I love. To boot, I'm moving to a city that I've wanted to live in for the past ten years. I have been able to spend the past year writing and learning and thinking. In brief, life is good.
The point is that true happiness comes from gratitude. Gratitude focuses on the present, and I honestly feel that over time it opens up great things for the future. I say this not in some mystical sense, but just because I think good things come to people who are open and happy and thankful. I'm thankful that you read this blog, and I hope that you, too, find yourself reasonably happy.
If I must tie all this meandering monologue back to the relevant topic at hand, babies, I think that it will be important to set the example of gratitude for the baby when it arrives. We may not all end up with the Lamborghini of baby strollers or the Fallingwater of living spaces, but if we fixate on that, then we're missing that fact that we have the luxury, among other things, of being able to sit around reading about babies on the Internet of computers.
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