Taken for Granted

by Conlee Ricketts

I’m sure most of us can point fingers and blame someone guilty of taking us for granted at one moment or another across our life.  That isn’t what this is about.

I was dissecting the phrase “taken for granted” the other day over and over in my head as I have a habit of doing. There are so many things that I simply had the assumption of “continuous presence” in my world.  I had an expectation of permanence. A completely unrealistic expectation that is so obvious on the surface, yet I clung to the expectation blindly without question, and I neglected to  enjoy something or someone or some moment. I neglected to savor it, say thank you, smile and breathe.

What started this was visiting friends and watching the couple who had been together for maybe ten years or so navigate the kitchen of their home, talk, joke, roll eyes, misunderstand one another, be irritated, laugh, brush shit off, and move on to the next task.

I was envious.

Had I ever had a relationship like that in my life? Of course I had, but I don’t now, and I think I took it for granted. 

When I was in high school, my mom told me, “All relationships end.”

She was very matter of fact and followed up with, “It will happen at some point no matter what; the longest relationship with anyone ends with death of course.”

She wasn’t sad, she was just being realistic, stoic, no nonsense, basically her charming self. Not that I really want to argue with her now, and yes our physical relationship did “end” with her death 20 years ago, but that was just the physical in-person relationship.  She is still around in my emotional and cerebral world so, as expected, and not at all surprising to anyone who knew us….we disagree :-)

I’m pondering the words of wisdom I want my daughter to remember, and I am leaning heavily toward appreciation.  Appreciation of the presence of anything in the moment it is present.  Beginning with a list of a few things I took for granted back in the day:

• A long comforting hug. Being held by someone who loves me and thinks I’m beautiful is something I didn’t realize I would miss so much
• Laughing until I nearly pee…or until I pee.  It’s not the bladder control I took for granted, it’s the laughter
• Fitting comfortably in my jeans. My body—its shape, reliability, energy, and how I feel looking at it are things I should have appreciated much more at the time.  Now I have to learn to appreciate my body all over again, and it’s not an easy thing to do because I have a memory of what was.
• Running, handstands, cartwheels, and the ease of movement.  I never knew how light I felt from within, until I felt heavy.

I want my daughter to attempt to appreciate her moments now while she’s in the middle of them.  Her joy and her pain while still in high school. I want to tell her to “enjoy” any heartbreak that might come her way in the next ten years, as well as the love that she thinks will never come her way; to enjoy the friendships, laughter, and drama that is part of the everyday. Because these next ten years or so will be when she is most likely to truly feel everything the deepest. I don’t want her to take any of that joy or pain for granted and assume she will have an endless supply of these intense experiences throughout life.  While we continue to have experiences throughout life, the good and the bad, the way they feel in intensity changes over time.  It's just the way the brain is wired to "grow up."  The deep, raw feelings she experiences now are at a level that her brain will grow out of over time. If she's in love, she's IN LOVE. If she is hurt and disappointed, she is HURT and DISAPPOINTED. If she is pissed at Mom, believe me, she is PISSED AT MOM.

How will I handle these extreme ups and downs of joy, pain, happy, sad?  For starters, I won’t take these moments with my daughter for granted. If I’ve done my job well, she will be ready to navigate the world without me in a few short years. Next, I will do my absolute best to be the person that I needed when I went through all of that: quiet, open-armed, without judgement, and un-angry.  “Un-angry” is such a rough, unpolished word, but I just remember a lot of anger during my high school years—both from me and towards me, and it was difficult to navigate.  I am 50% of our relationship equation, and I have learned that not engaging with the anger typically will result in the quiet comforting mother/daughter hug that I had always wanted from my own mother.

There are certainly things I miss in my life, and sometimes I think it isn’t the “thing” but the “intensity of the thing" I miss the most.  Yes, I took people, places, things, and feelings for granted and was certain they would “always be available.” My goal is to enjoy things again.  I will enjoy what I have while I have it, and if I can, I want to help my daughter do the same now while the intensity exists to create a habit of appreciation and understanding.  

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