Beautiful Pain

Have you ever considered how so many beautiful things in life are also painful? This morning, with the temperatures barely hitting 10 below zero, I drove my kids to school. We are fortunate to have a "countryside commute" which offers me a daily dose of natural beauty. The mountains of Vermont off in the distance, the valleys, the farms...a definite departure from the rest of the driving I do. Today, as we huddled in the various layers of outerwear, hoping the heat would crank up a bit faster, I noticed the most stunning , simple things: the way the smoke was curling up into the frigid air, the layers of glitter sprinkled over the fields, the mist hanging mysteriously over the mountains. It made me pause, and brought to mind some other instances in life that have this double-edged quality: pain partnered with beauty. Childbirth, climbing mountains on a loaded touring bike... you get the idea. The thing that struck me about this morning's arctic experience is that I was reminded that if I can just slow down my mind, and try to be aware, I am given little gifts all the time, even in the midst of what seems to be so painful and uncomfortable. Why, this might even be something for me to keep in mind as I navigate parenting my teens and work at building my business! Stay warm out there...