...and the award goes to...

I'll admit it, after the rush of the holidays, the dorky thing that pushes me into spring, besides the jam-packed extra-curricular schedule are...award shows. While almost everyone in my house was watching football in one room on Sunday, I was watching the Golden Globes Pre-show. Mindless? Yes. Disparaging? Yes, marginally. A waste of 2 hours? Yes. But, everyone should have some guilty pleasures once and while. As I was watching these "artists" if you will, roll out of their black SUVs and walk the 900 foot red carpet it got me wondering. How did they get there? How did they find a way to champion what they love into something worthy of being nominated for an award? Did they ponder the same?

"I wish I could/had..." One of my children used to mutter this, slightly passive aggressively at times when someone else had something they wanted. It quickly became an ongoing joke, as she would say it about 16 times a day, she wasn't amused. "I wish I had some gum...I wish I could drive a car...I wish I could use a taser..." Clearly, some were more relevant than others. That is not to say I made it my mission to dash this child's desires. There are some things one can wish for, as if they are audibly setting a future goal or mentally making a declaration. That I can get behind. Wishing for a pony, new sibling, giant ice-cream sundaes, super powers, bathtubs of jellybeans, a seeing-eyed dog, chest hair, world domination and the afore mentioned taser? I can't subscribe to that.

But there I sat, watching these glittery actors and actresses, walking into an award show where they have been nominated for excellence in their special craft, their special wish. I ever so slightly started thinking, "I wish I could...," and I stopped myself dead in my tracks. Life doesn't work that way for all. But it got me to thinking, award shows for everyday life, how would that work? Clearly, the awards I would receive are in the "Stain-fighting, cookie making, house cleaning" division. Seriously, exciting. My kids would be nominated for the "Let's help mom loose her shit before 8 A.M."-it is a working title. As I was watching the show I thought to myself, is that all I have going for me? I'll never walk the red carpet for that-vacuum maybe. 

Age is a number, but this last birthday I really looked at myself and wondered, what next? It terrified me a little. I remember after having kids, my parents visited and brought me a box of old school report cards and school work they had saved over the years. I pulled out a picture I had colored when I was in the first grade. Under the picture I had written, I want to be a housewife like my mom. Prophetic from the first grade. It hangs on my wall now and every time I pass it I short of chuckle. But that prophecy shouldn't define the rest of my life, so I am quietly "wishing" for what will happen next. I am also blessed enough to know that whatever I decide to do, I will be supported. However, I'm figuring exotic dancing and circus performing won't be on that list, sorry for the spoiler.

While I may not be walking a red carpet any time soon or ever for that matter, all of us have the ability to be extraordinary. Every human being does something unique everyday, and mostly thinks nothing of it. Be it a kindness, an act of heroism, example of faith, representation of courage or just doing a job well for the sake of the job. Remember, you are that person, no matter your "wish," except leave your taser at the door whenever you visit here.