Meters

There was a period of time where my cousin Amber and I spent hours playing The Sims. We used the early 2000's internet to find cheat codes unlocking unlimited cash and all the accessories. We'd design and build house so grand and elaborate MTV's Cribs episodes hardly compared. I mean, we had unlimited money, and in early adolescence, unlimited time.

We learned the characters language, ran their lives, and soon lead them to having children, earning promotions and gaining new and rather useless talents. We coordinated their sleep, their food intake and their time spent socializing, building self esteem, and even the potty breaks. (I have an almost four year old, and I use the word potty. Deal.)  What we needed to do next for these characters depended on the status of their meters. The graphics showed us exactly how much we could accomplish in these characters lives before initiating their next sleep cycle or hosting the next big shindig.

I find myself often considering where my meters are. It is not uncommon for me to say to my husband "my (insert meter of topic) is low." Thankfully, while I refer to my needs in meters, I have stopped using the Sims language. I am certain some of my family members recall some of the phrases, but most others would have no clue what I was referring to, so life just works out better not to do this.

I feel as if at least one of my many meters are continuously low. It's hard for them not to be. Life responsibilities, and adjust to an essentially new world here in Lubbock, it not unreasonable that this is just the case.

As we move into a new holiday season, and Pinterest becomes overwhelmed with the cutest of crafts, the social offering around us increasing exponentially, and the longing in my heart to create magic for my daughter rages, I am going to be very aware of all my meters.  The alone time meter, the family fun meter, the crafting meter, the sleep meter, the school meter.

We have so much to celebrate, so many people to celebrate with, and joys to recognize. While I am tempted to start scouring the internet looking for the next fun event, the next craft or recipe, I am going to choose to look at balance. A choice to look at the trends of these lower meters and make sure they too get their fill.  I hope to find and develop a new meter of balance within myself, and make sure that is the one in the green. And a cheat code for unlimited money. I definitely hope to find an unlimited money cheat code.