Today was not an easy day. I have been struggling with insomnia, so on very little sleep I woke up already in a bad mood. I apologized to my child for my bad attitude within 20 minutes of us both being awake. My bad mood persisted all through the day. At some point I explained to her how I felt and she, in her sweet empathy, said she knew exactly what I meant and told me how she experienced the same feelings of frustration at times. (She's a special nugget.)

My chronic health issues are flaring being exacerbated by allergies. I'm young, mid-thirties, should my body really be falling apart like this? I go there with my thoughts, even when I know it doesn't help and there is no answer for what has happened to my health. 

It seemed no matter what I did or tried to do I was not going to crawl out of the hole that was this bad day. Moments of love and connection (when my baby girl showed me all of the empathy in the world) and many moments of feeling as if I would come unglued at nothing. The silver lining I have claimed this entire day is: Tomorrow is a new day. 

I found myself repeating that phrase and even if I didn't feel more like myself or more grace-filled I DID feel hopeful. It helped me retreat into moments of quiet and calm even if just for a few seconds to remember my own humanity, that I won't always get life right and more often than not I will fail and have to get up and try again. That is a lesson I hope my daughter learns from these days that I have. I hope she sees me retreat and try again, over and over because some days are just hard enough to make you hope for tomorrow.