In the early hours of the morning way before dawn as my baby got up for what seemed like the tenth time that night with her ear infection, the thought came to me:

“What if I saw this all as a privilege?”

A privilege to be my children’s mom, to be Brian’s wife, to be my parents’ daughter, to live where I do, to know the people I know, to be living the life I have?  To be in this body, this life?

A privilege to have stains on our carpet from little feet with lots of mud on them and slippery hands that spill milk and juice?

A privilege to have no time to clean out our minivan…or clean the bathrooms?

A privilege to be interrupted when I’m writing or working or having some “me” time?

I know.  It sounds crazy.  But wait…

How would it impact the way I go about the ‘not so glamorous’ tasks of our everyday lives – wiping my children’s bums, hands and tears; juggling getting both kids in and out of the car plus library books, snacks, pacifier, jackets, blankets, A.’s tools, my phone and purse and maybe no socks but at least two shoes on my feet that match while carrying C. on my hip as she grabs for my dirty and sharp keys and helping A. put on his spiderman costume as he jumps over the seat with “super power” strength; pecking away at the long LISTS of ‘to do’s’ (car repairs, pay bills, clean house, go to post office, make dinner, calling clients, writing my book…..) in between dirty diapers, lunch, playdates, preschool, etc?

What if we saw our lives as a privilege?

A privilege.  This is the word that came to me in the early morning hours.  Not “gift” or “blessing” – maybe I’ve used those words so often that they aren’t stopping me in my tracks right now.

I looked up synonyms for privilege – right, birthright, entitlement.  Whoa – waaaaait a second.  Entitled?! I loath that word.  I have “issues” with people who act entitled.

But maybe Spirit is whispering a different meaning of “entitled.”  Maybe it’s about CLAIMING the “title” bestowed on us way before we were born into this life, when we sat in the Divine’s lap and we said, “YES” to it all.

Yes, that’s it.  CLAIMING. YOUR. LIFE.

Just as it is.  Claiming the honor of living it.  Claiming the right to all the experiences, struggles and joyous moments of our daily life.  Claiming the sacred task of raising human beings.  Claiming the titles of  woman, mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and any other wild way we are called to see ourselves?

These experiences are ours to FULLY experience!  They are an honor, gift, blessing, privilege  — to be cherished, regarded as sacred…and shared.

Yes, shared.  Offered to others.  Every single experience, interaction, struggle and joy holds the opportunity to lead us back into the sacred presence of the Divine – right before us in the pasta-sauce-covered hands of our children, the sweet caress of our partner, and even the crappy, disappointing, hard, lonely and difficult as a privilege to be embodied and be alive.

So if we saw “the good” and “the bad” as a privilege…

Would we walk on this green earthwith a bit more gentleness?  Would we be a bit softer and kinder, move a bit slower, and smile more often?  Would we linger a bit longer with our dear ones? Would we love our bodies as they are?  Would we claim the wild call within us to live?

I thought about this.  Would I lay here with my daughter in the quiet of the night, remembering that it won’t last forever?  Would we see it as a sacred request when A. asks me to sing him another song to sleep while the dishes remain unwashed and toys are still all over the floor?  Would I take the time to soak up the sacred experiences of feeling the water against my skin as I shower, seeing dawn appear through out window as the kids bounce on me, tasting Brian’s scrumptious soups, hearing the kind words my mother tells me – every day, and smelling the sweet scent of my children’s skin?

Would I see it all as sacred pebbles…leading me back home to sitting on the lap of the Divine?

I think so.

So that’s the lens I’m going to try to look through as I go about my day.

I wonder how it might change things for you — how less burdened you might feel – if you saw being embodied in your life and your body as a sacred opportunity to see it as a privilege?