the odds are ever in your favor

SG and XG finished school yesterday so summer vacation has officially begun.  XG (my 3 1/2 year old) celebrated his liberation with a rowdy bender - party for one - in his bedroom until 11:00 last night.  i found him this morning, strewn face down in his bed at 8:35 with all the lights on, drool oozing from his tiny red mouth, an empty cup of milk turned sideways on the floor, legos and matchbox cars sprayed all over his sheets, hand still tightly clutching a small dinosaur he calls "toothless".

while XG was sleeping it off, SG and i sat down to a few rounds of early morning cards.  we played war, go-fish and crowd-favorite crazy 8's.

i typically do the shuffling and dealing b/c SG tends to stack the decks.  (she's only 5, so cheating is in her wheelhouse.)  i SWEAR i was on the up and up when i dealt myself this hand (pictured above) during game #3 of go-fish.  (why can't i get a hand like this during the annual poker tourney in maine with the in-laws????)  anyway.  first thing i thought:  "what are the odds???"

then i peered over the top of my cards and saw my little boo.  what are the odds that i end up with this terrifically sassy little kid?  for that matter, what are the odds that half the shit in my life ended up the way it did?  and then i remembered - life isn't about odds, life isn't about coincidence or luck.

life is about potential - at any given time, your hand looks exactly the way it's supposed to look.  it's all meant to be.  this life is designed for you.  yup, for you.  just you.  every person you see, every thing you do, every struggle you encounter, every card you are dealt...  all for you.   all on purpose.   you are important.  you matter.

what you do with your hand is your choice.  so why not live it fearlessly?  after all, the odds are ever in your favor.

peace, love, gratitude,
v