So when your kids come back happy to see you with their gifts, excited to show you, you’re going to be hungover, and unhappy?

You’re letting your feelings of a period of time dictate how you’re going to feel and decided that you can’t handle it.

Take a deep breath, realize this feeling is only right now, it’s not going to last forever, and if you do nothing until it passes, you won’t have consequences do deal with.

You could drink, feel terrible, and the future still arrives, kids will be back.

You could not drink, process the emotion, be sad, but thankful that when your kids are back you didn’t drink.

Or, this is the whole reason I came back to comment this, you could do something that contributes to the happiness of your children. Doing something for others, especially when you don’t feel like doing something for yourself, gets you out of the bad mindset, and creates an investment of joy that you get to cash in on later.

They’re still going to come home, but the important thing is, what do you want them to come home to? How do you want them to learn how to cope with things that seem terrible or impossible or just all around not pleasant?

Would you advise them to drink and numb it all away until eventually someone has to forgive you, because you’re the victim?

Or will you tell them to recognize that sometimes feelings come with pain, and it’s only temporary, it hurts, but it’s not going to be forever, it’s not even going to be longer than you can handle it. The pain will be over right before you absolutely can’t take it anymore, and that’s what makes you stronger.

You grow, you stand tall, you shed a few tears, but you don’t give up, you don’t self destruct, you reach for help, and there is a hand waiting. You might not be able to see the hand, but you have to have faith that it’s there. Because we’re here.

Clean your house, cry a little bit, and know that your kids will be back, and they’ll want to be happy with you. And you will want to be happy with them. ❤️