{"id":202,"date":"2011-04-27T13:23:19","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T17:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/?p=202"},"modified":"2011-04-28T11:53:27","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T15:53:27","slug":"the-being-in-human-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html","title":{"rendered":"The “Being” in Human Being"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning when Joe was getting up to go to work I mumbled incoherently “I’ve been to hell and back in one night”. \"\"<\/a>Yes, I am a drama queen and that was an overstatement, but it was pretty awful. Any parent can relate to this:<\/p>\n

Last night, just as I drifted off to sleep after an incredibly busy day, a little girl came to my bed, “Mom? My tummy hurts” (Don’t panic. It was Easter Candy Consumption issues.) and that was the beginning of the end. I offered the love, the compassion, the Tylenol (is there *any* medication for under-12-year-old tummy aches?), and the couch. Thirty minutes later she returned…and again…and again. Finally, I simply moved to the couch with her. When I would start to drift off, she would cry…or moan…or whimper. Once when I got quiet, she startled awake, “MOM! Oh….I just thought you had left!” This went on for three hours…followed by the inevitable vomiting…followed by an hour clean-up. And then, after she crawled up in her bed–fully healed, glory Hallelujah!–and fell in to a deep slumber, I *of course* couldn’t sleep.<\/p>\n

This morning I wake very<\/em> late to find her humming a little tune as she chomps on her cereal! She looks up brightly, “Good morning, Mom!” I just had to laugh. “Umm….how about a ‘thank you, Mom’ for last night’s love and support?” She giggles, “Yeah…I was trying to think how to say that…”<\/p>\n

But here’s the thing. I didn’t DO anything. I had no magical cure. Heck, I didn’t even have the appropriate medicine! I felt so helpless and ineffective. Yet she wanted me there…begged for me to be there and panicked if I wasn’t. What was I to her in those hours? I was simply being<\/em>.\u00a0 My being was with her being and there was great comfort in that. So many times I get caught up with what I can do <\/em>or what I can say<\/em> but many times the hurting people in my life just need me to BE.\u00a0 Most children have a grasp of this and know to ask for it. My child even said so eloquently, “I just feel better with you here”. Adults, however, sometimes have a hard time asking for it.<\/p>\n

It gives meaning to the phrase “just be there for me”.<\/p>\n

And so I take a deep breath… let go of my perceived wisdom, abilities, talents, information…and determine to simply “be there” for the people in my life….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning when Joe was getting up to go to work I mumbled incoherently “I’ve been to hell and back in one night”. Yes, I am a drama queen and that was an overstatement, but it was pretty awful. Any parent can relate to this: Last night, just as I drifted off to sleep after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":386,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,15,87,33,17],"tags":[85,255],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-family-life","category-inspiration","category-parenting","category-purposeful-living","tag-illness","tag-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nThe "Being" in Human Being - My Happy Place<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The "Being" in Human Being - My Happy Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This morning when Joe was getting up to go to work I mumbled incoherently “I’ve been to hell and back in one night”. Yes, I am a drama queen and that was an overstatement, but it was pretty awful. Any parent can relate to this: Last night, just as I drifted off to sleep after…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Happy Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-27T17:23:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-04-28T15:53:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/files\/2011\/04\/Anyas-Rose-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kjackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The \"Being\" in Human Being - My Happy Place","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The \"Being\" in Human Being - My Happy Place","og_description":"This morning when Joe was getting up to go to work I mumbled incoherently “I’ve been to hell and back in one night”. Yes, I am a drama queen and that was an overstatement, but it was pretty awful. Any parent can relate to this: Last night, just as I drifted off to sleep after…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html","og_site_name":"My Happy Place","article_published_time":"2011-04-27T17:23:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-04-28T15:53:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/files\/2011\/04\/Anyas-Rose-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"kjackson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html","name":"The \"Being\" in Human Being - My Happy Place","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/files\/2011\/04\/Anyas-Rose-300x199.jpg","datePublished":"2011-04-27T17:23:19+00:00","dateModified":"2011-04-28T15:53:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/#\/schema\/person\/8a921a151b82f5352cf9c3cc20d82fa4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/files\/2011\/04\/Anyas-Rose-300x199.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/files\/2011\/04\/Anyas-Rose-300x199.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/04\/the-being-in-human-being.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The “Being” in Human Being"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/","name":"My Happy Place","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/#\/schema\/person\/8a921a151b82f5352cf9c3cc20d82fa4","name":"kjackson","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/author\/kjackson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/386"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}