New circumstances in life
“There are no circumstances in life to which a person cannot become accustomed, especially when they see that everyone around them lives the same way.”
I read this sentence in the book Anna Karenina. It made me stop and think about the wisdom it carries. We are adaptable creatures, with the ability to get used to new conditions and circumstances in life.
There will be a big change in my life soon. We are becoming parents. This is very exciting and frightening at the same time. What is it like taking care of another person, putting his needs above our own? How are we even supposed to know what our baby needs?
Our lives will be completely different when the baby arrives. We both, like all other parents, want to give our baby all the love and attention we can. But this also means many changes in our lives.
We will have less time for ourselves, for doing sports, going out, reading books, going on dates, or just chilling on the couch, and will spend more time taking care of the baby, with possibly countless hours of sleep deprivation.
When I think about the coming weeks, I wonder how I will manage it. I remind myself that everybody else did it. I forget that the person I will be in a few weeks will be a different person than my current self. That person will be a parent, willing to make sacrifices for hischild.
We are humans, able to adapt to the new roles that life gives us (or, in this case, gifts us).