Keep Me In Your Heart

The heart is such a big place.

Really, it is.

Stop and think about it.

The older you get, the more experiences you accumulate, the more people you know, the more history you amass...you begin to recognize that the heart has room for much more than you give it credit for.

I remember when I discovered that I was pregnant with my second child, I thought, "My God...will I love this child as much as I love my first?"  And then again, when I became pregnant with my third.

I've had similar kinds of feelings about jobs and career changes.  Evolutions in friendships.  Differing seasons in my marriage.  Times and places with organizations I've belonged to and positions I've been responsible for.

I've been told and for good reason that I'm an all in or all out sort of girl.  And this is probably true.  I often immerse myself completely in whatever season and with whichever people are closest to me at the time...but it doesn't mean that the experiences that were are gone or that the things to come don't have a chance.

It simply means that there is a vast amount of emotional space for all and for whom that we love in this life we've been given.

When my older two went off to Kindergarten, we read the book, "The Kissing Hand" about a young raccoon who goes off to school and leaves his family behind.  His mother kisses the inside of his paw and says, "I will always be with you and when you are afraid or unsure, you can look down at your hand and feel me inside of you."

I have always loved that tale.  We are all connected.  We are all present in each other's lives purposefully.  And there is room for so much love in our hearts.  It's not a limited entity.  It's more vast than we can imagine.  So, fear not...you can keep filling and it will only grow to accommodate and make you more compassionate, more engaging, a better friend, a sweeter partner, a more loving parent.  Let us not be afraid to keep each other in our hearts.