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Good? Bad? Better!

It may be technically Monday on the clock now, but my night is still winding down. I thought I would take just a moment to jot down a few thoughts - even as I know being in front of a screen before sleeping isn't wise.

Oh there are so many things we are "supposed" to do, right? Stop the screens X amount of time before going to sleep. Drink eight glasses of water a day, get 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day, eat kale, and on and on. And then we do this crazy thing and bring kids into this world and magically become parents. And that list of what to do...it grows with our kids!

That's my point tonight - I went to see Bad Moms tonight with a mom friend. I was crying from laughing at some points. And a few other times because there was crap in my eye. But that's what happens with age. Seriously, there was an eyelash or dust or something, there is nothing sappy worth crying about in this low-brow film. It brought to my mind the movie Bring It On from days of yore. Another similarly bad, but good, but bad movie that you just have to see with certain friends.

The movie is either trying just to shock the audience into fits of laughter that bring on those tears or make a serious point about how hard it is to parent, in particular, to mother, these days. Just when it seems like the movie has settled into one theme it shifts to the other.

I'm glad we had a 1+1 coupon on the tickets and the coffee!

However, at the end of the day I think that this movie does have the potential of making one stop and consider. Just look and reflect on what one is doing in one's life to decide what is most important and what is less important. The terms "good" and "bad" are very loaded and in particular anytime when they are tossed around children and parents. Instead I would posit that we think about what things are "good for me" and what things are "bad for me" in how I act and behave, whom I include in my life, what I value and prioritize for my limited and precious time. From here, I suspect we will find ourselves more content and satisfied with ourselves and by extension more content and satisfied with what we are able to and have accomplished.

Elul is certainly a time to really take a broad view on what we have been doing, reflect on the picture we thought we were building, and then refocus ourselves to be on the course we want for ourselves and others. Taking a whole month is telling about the depth and complexity of such self-reflection and evaluation needed to find and stay on the right course.
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