I’m Looking At The Big Picture, And It’s Amazing

Posted June 26, 2020 by Prairie Wife - 2 comments

If you’ve ever been to one of my events where I am speaking, chances are you’ve heard me talk about “looking at the big picture” it’s one of my favorite themes.

The gist of this concept is, a lot of our frustration, anger, depression, anxiety, and overall unhappiness occurs because we aren’t looking at the big picture.

It’s easy to get sucked into focusing on all the things that go wrong within each and every day and get bogged down.

But, when you look at the big picture of your week or month, I bet there has been a whole lot of good…or at the very least glimpses of joy here and there.

And if there wasn’t (or isn’t), well it’s time to get working and change what you’re doing.

Today The Cowboy and I celebrate 16 years of marriage.

At this point, we have been through every single part of our vows…multiple times.

Better or Worse…check.

For Richer or Poorer…yes.

Sickness and Health…yup, we for sure covered that one with my preventive mastectomy.

Those of you that have followed the blog know that I don’t often speak of my marriage, at the request of The Cowboy.

And because of that, you may get the idea that it has been picture-perfect wedded bliss this entire time.

That’s not true.

There were times where if I had only focused on those small moments instead of the big picture I would have left.

There were weeks at a time where each and every day I had to actively wake up and choose him and our marriage.

We both have had times when the work was exhausting emotionally, where the moments of laughter and love seemed few and far between.

To say I’m a complicated person to be married to would be an understatement.

The Cowboy has had to deal with more emotional outbursts (and admittedly many of them were not rational) and “this is how it needs to be done” stubbornness than any one man should.

But each and every day he showed up the best he knew how…and looked at the big picture of US.

And that’s how we got here today.

16 years and 5 kids later, making plans for the future of our marriage and family.

We looked at the big picture of our life together.

Our life as it was, as it is, and as it will be.

The joy, the chaos, the times when we took over for the other person when they absolutely could not keep going.

The laughter, the tears, the dancing cheek to cheek, and the years spent apart.

Today, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the big picture of our marriage, and it’s amazing.

Love, and work.

Grit and grace.

The answer to my prayers, the fulfillment of all my dreams…and a beautiful future yet to come.

Categories: Life As It Happens, Prairie Life

Tags: , anniversary, healthy relationships, marriage, marriage help, relationships, wedding