Free Advice

Last week I had the chance to take a last minute trip to New York City and for some crazy reason I had anxiety and I didn’t easily change my plans for the weekend.  But with the help of my cheerleaders I flew to New York and had an awesome trip!  One of my favorite moments from the trip came from this guy hanging out at the Union Square Farmers Market:

He was giving out FREE ADViCE (donations appreciated).  I loved everything about this, his confidence, him giving something to get something, the pure entertainment of whatever he would say,  the pure entertainment he probably gets from the questions and the serendipity!  So I was all over this, I just couldn’t think of a question.  I asked my friends to ask him something and then finally I just spit something out, “How do I get my little boy to stop hitting his sister?”

He probably doesn’t get many requests for advice on parenting a toddler so I explained that my son is 2 1/2 years old and he just wants his big sister to give him attention, play with him and she’s not always game.  Then he seemed stumped, we even suggested asking a different question, but he said no, he just needed to think.  Then the good stuff came out, he said, “Be firm… be gentle… but be firm… and be consistent.”  And then he said, “From what I know, consistency is the main thing.”  Firm, gentle and consistent, sounds like the man knows what he’s talking about!

His name was Felix and I took away more than parenting advice.  He was warm and kind as he offered his advice and he didn’t care what we thought of him.  He was confident sharing his feelings with strangers in hopes to help them.  Now, no one is asking me for advice, but I was reminded of something helpful last week and it made such a difference that I want to share it.  When I was feeling overwhelmed and thinking too many “what ifs” it was helpful to change my thoughts by living one step at a time.

One Step At A Time by Emma Margaret of Doodle Designs on Etsy.

Usually I am reminded of this and need this when times are bad.  But times are pretty good and I still need help.  Juggling the fun stuff is even a struggle because I still have work to do!  I don’t want to miss a trip to New York because the house is a wreck and I’m worried about stuff.  That’s crazy talk!  So I prayed about it.  Then I remembered, ONE STEP AT A TIME, and so I did.  And it’s helping me live in the NOW and absorb these fun times.

Now the cherry on top of this NYC trip was a reminder from Justin Timberlake on SNL.  On our last night there I was watching him live from our hotel room perform his new love song (and my new favorite song), Mirrors.  He says, “Show me how to fight for now… Yesterday is history, Tomorrow’s a mystery.”  Here he is for your entertainment: