Over winter break my family and I took a quick last minute and somewhat unplanned trip up to Washington, DC. We thought it would be fun to take our young boys to a handful of museums and to see some of the sites. Our first planned adventure was the National Air and Space Museum, which quite frankly blew my children’s minds. Although, we might have spent more time wandering the gift shop than we did the actual exhibits in the museum.
On our second day in DC, we walked all over. We ventured to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, made our way through the National Gallery of Art, saw the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, and walked by the US Capitol and White House.
Although, I must confess that none of these sites were as exciting to my children as the Air and Space Museum Gift Shop, which we visited five times in two days.
By the end of the day, our children were walking at a snail’s pace. Hungry, thirsty and tired, we took a taxi back to the hotel to enjoy dinner together. I happened to look at my phone and realized that we had walked almost 8 miles that day, some 17,000 steps. What shocked me the most was that my children rarely, if at all, complained. I did not realize they had it in them to walk so far without complaining. This might have been the Christmas miracle we all have wanted.
As I’ve been reflecting on our family trip, I began to wonder if we all have more in us than we give ourselves credit for. We are stronger than we think, smarter than we realize, more intune than we might hope, and can overcome those trials we fear.
For some of us, a new year can bring us a lot of hope. We can be excited for the future adventures and achievements of goals. Yet, for others, it can also be a reminder of the countless challenges that face us.
So no matter what you are facing this coming year, whether there is great joy or deep grief, productive energy or uneasy fatigue, gratitude or trepidation, hope or anxiety, may you know you have more than enough within you to handle it. One step in front of another, and soon enough, you will look back and realize you had more than enough to keep going.