A Recharge Realization…just what I needed.

I was desperate on the last day of summer. We had just finished breakfast and the kids were staring at me with that “ok-what’s-next?” look. I rummaged through my craft bin and tossed a balloon and a science picture book to my eight year old and took another swig of my twice reheated coffee. School couldn’t come fast enough.

I sat back watching them get excited about blowing up a balloon and got lost in my thoughts of the start of a new school in a our new town. Come to think of it, I had really settled in to this slow summer schedule and thinking of the after school activities alone made me take another swig of my coffee. I wondered what my old pals were doing that day and hopped on Instagram but as usual social media left me feeling a bit unconnected and nostalgic for our old friends. I needed a recharge – I was tired from moving, tired from trips, tired from book marketing. I guess you can say I really needed a vacation from our summer vacation.

Then my thoughts were interrupted when I glanced over at the experiment that started taking place on our kitchen table. I did not expect this simple activity would give me the shock into reality I needed.

Here is what I saw when she played with a balloon, strips of newspaper, and static electricity:

I was just as surprised as she was when the little strips of newspaper not only stuck to the balloon but started connecting and pulling each other up.

Now what is interesting about static electricity is that it’s static, umoving. It was a lot like how I felt that morning, unmoving, negatively charged, and just sitting on the surface of our new life. Movement doesn’t happen until it gets closer to a positive charge, then motion happens almost exactly like a magnet.

And that’s when it dawned on me sitting at our new kitchen, in our new town, that that connection was what I was longing for. I swallowed back the tightness that was forming in my throat and the realization that I didn’t need a vacation – ok maybe I needed a bit more coffee – but truly what I needed was to reconnect and recharge to get me moving again. Then it happened, I started noticing all the little things that recharge me and it gave me that much needed energy I was looking for.

I got an actual phone call from a old friend (not just a text message). Recharge.

A package arrived in the mail for the kids wishing them well on their first day of school. Recharge.

My heart felt lifted and energized.

Then I noticed a new review on Amazon that moved me to tears. Recharge.

Later my kids tackled me in a hug. Recharge.

Suddenly my spirits felt like that little paper chain. I went back to watch the video surprised at my profound realization by such a simple activity. I realized it was my turn now to recharge someone else who may be feeling blue about sending their kids off to school, or wishing the house wasn’t so quiet, or perhaps wondering what is next in their life.

I hope a tiny bit of spark jumped your way and know you aren’t alone, that we are all connected, we all need a pick-me-up, a phone call, and a chain of connections that will re-energize us. Then after you are recharged and buzzing with energy again who will you reach out to? Pass it on..