Mama Said

"This too shall pass." This was Mama's favorite line when I was an emotional teenager... and even when I wasn't. Every stress, every fear, every lost chance, every disappointment- her helpful phrase was as constant as the sun rising. And believe it or not it helped. When my Abuelita passed two days before I ended the last Spanish class I ever took, this too shall pass. When my big brother got accepted to the college that I wanted to go to... by myself, this too shall pass. When the guy I had a crush on fell for my best friend, over and over and over again, this too shall pass. The words Mama said never failed; everything passed.

Now I'm not a teenager and for the most part my life has been pretty constant. I recently had a Chinese Fire Drill with my job situation and for a while I was quite distressed about that. And then I remembered, this too shall pass.  Everything passes. Bad days, good days, unremarkable days, but those words echo. Today I remembered another thing she taught me: everything happens for a reason.

If I had gotten that job with Google I would have been on pins and needles for a long time with an uncertain future. I wouldn't have taken that job at the University and I wouldn't have realized that I am quite good at organizing chaos. If I hadn't gone through that I wouldn't have had the confidence to try something so very different from my field. If I hadn't been brave enough to do that I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to... well never mind- he's a story for another post.

I think that my job situation has finally sorted itself out and I am quite content with my new position. Also, I have a window that has quite the loveliest tree and a squirrel who likes to make faces at me. And from my window, through the trees, I can always see the sky. And this too may pass, but for now I am quite happy with today. And I owe it, at least in part, to Mama.