There are seasons to enjoy and seasons to endure. Either way, it would seem the important thing is to be mindful of a season’s passing nature.

In this season of working on a doctorate amidst the energy of my young-ish kids, I am trying to enjoy the enduring….or endure “enjoying” as the case might be. I’m finding that the familiar habits and strategies I’ve always used aren’t quite up to par for the type of focus and productivity I need these days. So I adjust. A lot. The trick is to adjust to adjusting quick enough that it feels “normal.” It’s only a season, after all.

My kids will only be young, full of energy and questions, eager to chat and quick to give hugs for a season.

My work will (likely) only be kind enough to ebb and flow around my family and grad school for a season.

My time in grad school, demanding as it can be, will only last for a season. I will not exist in sea of endless deadlines forever. I will not. I will not.

If it seems like I’m pep-talking myself, I am. Summer break started and the kids are home. Let the dance party begin…

In moving from one leg of this journey to the next, the goal is to do it with grace. I’m finding the rigor of textbooks and research papers is child’s play, compared to the grace I wish I was giving myself and those around me.

So, I adjust. Again.

I embrace the season of mis-alignment and build the muscle of adjusting. I cultivate the missing grace and patience as I enjoy the enduring of spontaneous dance parties. I practice life in the margins with agility and persistence. And I feel the frustration and smile through the pain, knowing that in doing so I move closer to purpose and alignment.

Today’s change involves getting up three hours before the kids who are innately early risers. I called up some inner fortitude and started the day a lot earlier than I might have liked after a night of lousy sleep and brought to the table some desperate optimism that this strategy will see us through the next few weeks.

We had a huddle last night to talk about what kinds of things we get to do if I can get my work done in the morning…and I may have begged them to do some extra reading in bed before they emerge with all the gusto to face another day. Go team! If anything, this early morning strategy is certainly better for my well being (and thereby everyone else’s) than my previous strategy of loving a little (a lot) too much the quietness of my house in the late night hours after everyone else has gone to bed. Turns out we really do need 6-8 hours of sleep.

So, here’s to adjusting and to early morning flow and to enjoying the enduring of every season.