Tubs of Icy Hot

I recently had a conversation with a friend who is expecting her first baby. She and her husband are no doubt excited, but of course, they're nervous, too. And rightly so, because if I were her, I'd set a record as the girl who spazzed out every day of the 9 months I was carrying a child.

As she and I drove from the restaurant to the gelato spot for desert with our husbands, we chatted about all the ups and downs she was experiencing both emotionally and physically. And somehow we got to talking about support systems and how they were so important, especially to new parents like her and her husband.

After that conversation, it got me thinking about how valuable support systems are for a lot of different things in life. This has always been a tough concept for me to grasp as for many years I've taken pride (sometimes too much) in the things I've done, accomplished, gained, endured, you name it. I come from the school of "tough it out, even if you're flying solo and if  your shoulders ache from the load you're carrying, that's what Icy Hot is for." And needless to say, this hasn't always fared well for me.

As I get older, (Am I really starting off a sentence saying that?) something in my little ol' soul is slowly learning and accepting that while it's great to be independent and proactive, it's equally just as great to have the wisdom to know when the burden wasn't meant to be on your shoulders alone. Even if you have tubs of Icy Hot in your possession for the journey.

And oh, speaking of getting older, I'm actually embarassed to admit I know what this means:

Here's to support systems and people who encourage you to put away the Icy Hot.

Happy Friday!