Rubber, Lead or Crystal

Many years ago, when my life was getting stressful and I felt I had too many things to juggle, my sister taught me about rubber, lead and crystal balls.  Some things are like rubber balls. If you drop them, they bounce back and you can take care of them another time. Other things are lead.  When lead balls drop, they stay down. They were not necessary to begin with.  The last are crystal. These are the important items, ones you need to deal with. When crystal drops, it breaks.  The hard part is the recognition. 

Deal with the rubber tomorrow, don't worry about the lead, and take care of the crystal. 

This was good advice and I used it often. 

Now add the X factor to the equation.  The rubber balls are things I thought I had taken care of: IEP's, meds, or crazy behaviors.  They keep coming back again and again. The lead balls are just plain heavy, weighing on my heart and my mind. When dropped, they always land on my foot.  Ouch.  The crystal ball is the one that looks into the future.  My crystal ball is murky, hazy, unclear.  I have no idea what the future holds. 

Enter the positive spin:  Everytime a rubber ball comes back, I get to make it better.  I learn from it, grow from it, and hopefully get a better result. The lead balls are like lifting weights.  It makes you stronger in the end.  And finally crystal.  Just like a crystal chadelier or wine glass, it can be truly beautiful when hit just right by the light.     

Learn what I can, let it make me stronger, and find the beauty.

The sparkling brilliance of my daughter with a future too bright to see.

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