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Pouring From an Empty Cup
Is an Impossible Task, But Somehow…
I admonish my daughter. “You absolutely must practice self-care.” I see her getting frazzled, overwhelmed by the weight of the day-to-day. It’s a climb.
I commiserate with my son. “Sometimes it’s hard, buddy. I get it. Just don’t let yourself get pulled too thin.”
You cannot pour into anyone else’s cup if your own cup is empty.
They are headed back to the city where they grew up in a few days, to celebrate the wedding of one of their numerous cousins. He’s a great guy, he’s faced a lot of his own struggles and come out on the other side. In attendance at the wedding will be the groom’s step-daughter and his own daughter who is now already four. He took the time to get his degree as a pharmacist, to make for himself a solid foundation, and even to outwait COVID so the family could be together. There is so much to be happy about.
But I can see the stress level rising in my daughter and son, amid all of the happiness they want to share.
For my daughter, attending the wedding means taking time away from her work on both Saturday and Sunday, losing valuable income. For my son, it means buying a bus ticket either to meet his sister to carpool, or the entire way across the state to make it to the event, then back again. It’s not cheap. She’s…
