11 September 2008

This post should have been published on the 11th September, but will now just be dated that way. Whilst the world remembers this very significant date in American history, which was a very sad day indeed for the families affected by the Twin Towers tradgedy, our family celebrates the birthday of our son Dominic, who came into this world 8 years ago.

Over the last 8 years, he has often made me realise that so much of who we are truly is instilled in us at birth. As an 8 year old, my son still has all the unique characteristics/mannerisms we noticed in him, in those very early stages of his life. Like the way he used to fuss and cry every time we drove in a car, which I couldn't understand and found quite stressful at the time. He would wriggle in his car seat crying, and try and cover his eyes with his little hands to protect them from the light. We assumed he was just being fussy as our daughter had always been such an easy traveller. But to this day our Dominic battles terribly with his eyes in aircon and sunlight, so he wasn't being a fussy baby after all. His laugh for which he is well known for, was already established before 12 weeks. My brother J.J would bounce him on the bed on purpose just to hear him laugh and giggle. His first smile was, believe it or not, at around 2 weeks, confirmed by a nursing sister who was holding him at the time. "That was DEFINITELY a smile", she said. And to this day he still has a wicked sense of humour!

So if so much of who we are is already in place at such a young age, it's no wonder that we struggle so much to replace old habits with new, and bad habits with good. That is why they say, knowledge is power, but doing something with it is even more so, because that's where the hard work and commitment come in. They say you need to do something for 20 days consecutive days (I think??) before it starts to become a habit. Well I think if the motivation is there and the want and need are compelling enough, it's half the battle won.

So I woke on the 11th September and pondered on what this day means for those family's who were remembering that fateful day 7 years ago, and how it had changed their lives forever. I felt so grateful that we were not among them. So happy birthday Dom - you are just another one of the countless blessings in my life!

CHARMED LIFE principle no 11. - Aquire Discretion: When you are discreet, you protect yourself. You preserve your honour. You conserve your power. Discretion is the art of restraint. People who have it do fewer foolish things; when they do behave foolishly, they don't plaster the news on a billboard. having discretion doesn't mean being cold and standoffish, or holding feelings inside and allowing them to fester. Discretion simply means keeping your personal life yours and discussing it's particulars only with carefully selected confidantes. Sharing, venting, and therapylike encounters have their time and place, but not whenever and wherever the urge hits.