Five Year Perspective

Shutterfly reminded me it has been five years since we took the kids to Disneyland. I looked through the pictures and remembered all the fun we had watching the kids experience “the happiest place on earth” for the first time. I have great memories of riding Splash Mountain (Brad’s favorite), Cars, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The pictures of our smiling faces confirmed my memories of the fun we had, and it made me think we should plan another similar adventure soon.
 
The next day, I was talking to my sister; “Can you believe it’s been five years since we took the kids to Disneyland?”  
 
“Didn’t they get sick during that trip?”
 
Oh yeah, that’s right. If I remember correctly, we got up bright and early to enter the park an hour before the general public. We rushed from ride to ride trying to take advantage of as many “short” lines as we could. Then around 11am, my daughter decided she was tired and wanted to go back to the room (where she proceeded to sleep for three hours!) The only explanation was that she had some kind of a bug that was sapping her energy. The next day she seemed to rebound and off we went again. The day was going great until we stopped for lunch. We went on a recommendation to a sit-down restaurant, long story short the mac and cheese we ordered did not agree with the kids’ stomachs. Back to the room we went to ride out the waves a nausea they were both feeling. Needless to say, the first two days of the trip were far from how I had planned them in my head.
 
But now, five years later, I look at the pictures and am instantly reminded of all the fun we had. The happy memories of being on a trip with the four of us. The joy we felt zooming through space on all the rides, coupled with the magic that only Disney can possess. When prompted, I can recall the kid’s sickness and my own initial disappointment. But now, five years later, those are details are quickly overshadowed by the visible excitement on all our faces.
 
It is SO easy to get wrapped up in today’s details and feel like they are critical to your current and future happiness. It’s easy to get stressed out by traffic, deadlines, activities, grades, work, finances and dirty dishes. All those things, and more, feel really important today, but when you look back in five years, what will you remember?
 
Heart-FULLy yours, 
Kacey
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Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash

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