The Biological Clock

My biological clock continues to go tick tock..tick tock. But not the way it used to. Gone are the days of wanting babies. I no longer feel the urge to procreate and have a little one of my own. My clock  ticks and tocks as I move ever closer to my empty nest. I'm preparing myself, nesting as it were, just as I did in the beginning when it first began, but this time its about preparing to let them go.

I've done all I can to ready them for what comes, and now I have to trust that they have taken the good, filtered out the bad, and will simply learn the rest. We each have our own journeys to travel and as a parent I hope I have provided the guidance and core that my boys need to draw on as they set out on their own personal journeys. My nest will be empty, but they can always come home to visit and they will always know they have a place to land, should they ever need it. Just because they fly away doesn't mean I stop being a mom. My job is forever! The scope of the work is changing a bit as I settle in to my new promotion, but I'll get used to it.

I thought that the looming empty nest would be more terrifying and depressing. But I am working hard to find alternative ways to fill my time and am discovering that although life will look different and feel different daily, it will  still be full and active. Its up to me to find my glass half full.

As my sons journeys take off, there will celebrations and events to share with them. There will be challenges and victories, and as mom, I will always be available to be their sounding board and their greatest fan. There will be daughter-in-laws and grandchildren, birthdays and holidays, dinners, and simple pop-in visits. Life will continue and flourish. And my glass will remain half full.

The only constant we can count on is change. We have to accept that life is always changing. We raise our children to be ready for adulthood and then we let them go.  Its our charge! We accept all the job comes with when we become mothers. We accept the joy and pain, the laughter and the tears. But the payoff is huge. We get the immeasurable honor and pride of watching them as they grow into adults and people we are in awe of. We look at them and think to ourselves how amazing the journey has been.

My nest is about to be empty. My clock continues to tick tock and I smile knowing that whatever come tomorrow is still part of the journey. It never ends, its simply changes.