Sometimes I’m tempted to get a little braggy over just how high the highs of my life can be. I’d like to tell of how good the good times are and how happy the happy times are. I could get a little cocky about how I thrive in certain situations and how I’ve nearly got it all figured out. Those highs feel good and when I feel good I want to say so. When I’m up there on that mountain, I get little whiffs of something that whispers I’ve found the secret to the good stuff and I should announce it on the loudspeaker. But you guys, nobody likes that girl. Not even that girl likes that girl, because nobody has it all figured out and anybody who says so is lying. Nobody is happy all the time. Nobody lives on the mountain top. Nobody I know, anyway.

On the other side of the coin is that nasty low ground. Honestly, I’d prefer to gloss over the low points of life. The unpleasant junk in the world and the ugly feelings that get me down? It slows me down when I’d rather skate right over it and get back to the good stuff. I’d just assume not slog through the mud and the muck. I like it just fine on higher ground where things shine up so nice, but man is there something sweet about climbing up out of the rut.

The highs are great and the lows sure can get muddy, but the bulk of my life is lived in the middle. So I do my best to enjoy the elevation while I’m up there, and when I must I trudge through the sludge. But time after time I find myself back in the middle. And you guys, the middle is not the waiting room of my life. THE MIDDLE IS MY LIFE AND I LOVE IT HERE.

The middle is where the highs and lows meet. The middle is where the memories I made up there and the lessons I learned down there come together and make me. The middle may not be all sunshine and unicorns, but I never really liked unicorns that much anyway.

There are no high horses here in the middle, just the genuine living of life and giving thanks for all that brought me here. There’s a bit of mud on my boots, but the sun is shining, good things are about to grow, and I am so very happy like this.

For more stories of standing happily in the middle of life, love, and parenting, follow Happy Like This by Mandy McCarty Harris.