Counting Years, Not Sheep

What do you do when you can't sleep? We've all heard of counting sheep, but I've never been able to do that very well. 

Sometimes, I can close my eyes and relive a good memory like a day on the beach, or a walk through a redwood forest, a first date. 

Lately, I have found that creating a mental timeline puts me right out!!! Sounds weird, but .... 1977 Graduate high school 1978 First full time job 1979 get married 1980 (nothing comes to mind) 1981 married life is harder than expected 1982 have a baby 1983 motherhood and working is a challenge! 1984 life is still a challenge 1985 still plodding along 1986 have another baby 1987 motherhood and working with two kids now is tiring! 1988 .....

I don't get much further than that. Being a young mom and working full time, life was lived moment to moment and paycheck to paycheck. 

It wasn't all boring, though. You learn to choose your moments, to create little joys. For 50cents, I could go to family swim night at the local pool.  Parks were a great place to spend time. 

Life isn't always easy. We all have rough patches; we get through them and move on. But if we focus on the little things, find happy moments and joyful occasions, you build a lot of memories that make you smile.