In my family, we like to walk after we eat, to digest and continue the conversation that refuses to end with the check.
So, the other night after dinner, we walked.
"Mom! Mom! Can I go in paaalllllease?" My eldest daughter was standing at the edge of the dancing water fountains in the plaza.
I used to take my daughters here all of the time equipped with towels, bathing suits and buckets. Yet tonight, we were fully clothed and not equipped.
I hesitated and thought, "They're going to get wet. I don't have towels. What about the leather in the car?"
And then, the hand of joie de vivre slapped me across the face, "Of course!"
I turned to my mom and shrugged, "It's just water." She nodded with a knowing smile.
We watched as my daughters frolicked, soaking their clothes and their hearts with joy.
These are the moments they will remember, that I will remember, and it almost didn't happen because I was concerned they would get wet.
It's just water, it dries.
When others are fighting for their lives or their countries or the ability to have any freedom at all, I must remember -- my life is just water. The broken this or that, the issues with work, motherhood, relationships. These are not issues, they are the dancing fountains of life we are supposed to be soaked by and find joy in.
"It's just water" has become my new mantra.
Today, remember: Even the things that happen in your life that feel cold and icy, let them soak you, submerge yourself in them, because they are just water, they will always dry in the end.