Sunday, July 24, 2011

Whatever...Why Not? Huh?

This will be my virgin journey into blog world, a place I've only occasionally visited, but have always wanted to inhabit.  I hope you'll join me on my little journey as I share my life, my loves, my fears, my joys, my thoughts. 

You may be wondering about the name of my blog.  Here's the back story:  I will probably refer to my mom many times in my blog. She was a very unusual women, one who never met a stranger, and a woman who was simple, but very wise.  She once told me that the best marriage advice she would give could be summed up in one word:  "Whatever!"  She encouraged me to use that word as often as possible when I was tempted to fire back at something my husband said or did.  The trick was the WAY in which I was to say this magical word.  Not with anger or emotion, but with a sweet smile and little shrug of the shoulders, as if to say, "What care I?"  Now I don't think she meant to just blow off the important conflicts of life, but to realize that most of what husbands and wives fight about is not really all that important.  Can I just say that the older I get, the more I see the truth in this.  Pick your battles.  It's hard to fight with someone who is sweetly smiling and saying, "Whatever!"

The Why Not? part is also from my mom.  Her philosphy was to enjoy life to the fullest, and unless you had a really good reason NOT to do something, your answer to most questions, especially those asked by your children, should be "Why not?"  Now before you start yelling at me in capital letters, please know that with six children, I definitely knew how to say "No!" and mean it.  But there is a certain beauty in being the kind of mom that says, "Why not?" more often than most moms.  Let's face it. We so "No!" because we're tired, we're lazy, and we just don't want to.  So why not add a little balance to the equasion and at least think about answering "Why not?" the next time someone asks you to do something you really don't want to do.  Others might begin to think of you as a really fun person, and that's not bad, is it?

So, that's the story of the name.  I've got a list a yard long of topics on which I want to write, but for now, it's just about the name. 

3 comments:

  1. I'm here. Blogging is an incredible Titus 2 opportunity. It can reach such a broad audience.

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  2. I love the 'why not' approach to seriously consider requests that are made by our children, family, church family, friends etc. You are so right Becky! We often say not to outings because we think we are tired and don't have time---but time well invested in our family and friends is always worth the effort!!!! A wise woman taught me a thing or two about these gifts!!! Love your blogs!!

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