Unanswerable Questions

Today was one of those days when I was reminded that, while I toil for money to take to the grocery store, I no longer have to put forth great physical effort in order to feed my family. There are some pros and cons related to this evolution. For instance, I love being able to get practically any type of food I want anytime I’m hungry. I love not worrying about my children going hungry. I also love my car and its cup-holders. I would not enjoy balancing my daily water supply on top of my head and walking miles to get home. I love my washing machine and my dishwasher. Today I had to physically labor for most of the day and it was exhausting. But there was something mentally relaxing about it too. I don’t know if I was too tired to over-think things (like I normally do) or if I was simply absorbed in the project at hand but the result was an entire day when I didn’t recite my to-do list in my head or worry about an upcoming meeting. And it was nice. Modern conveniences have definitely freed up some time in my life but I’ve filled it nicely with worry, stress and overanalyzing everything.


I always thought, when I saw a painting of a pioneer woman planting in a field that she was wishing for a different, easier life. I believed that she was thinking about the future, wondering if all this work would provide a better life for her children or maybe she was worried that she wasn’t giving her children the time they needed because she was stuck planting. But now I think I was wrong. Those are the types of questions that plague modern women—questions that really have no answer. Are we spending enough time with our kids? How can you tell how much is enough, or too much, or just right? Are we giving our children a better life? That’s tough too. My kids have a lot, but mostly I worry about them being strong, productive adults and I have to clue if what I’m teaching them will get them there. The pioneer woman was too tired and too busy making sure that her family was fed to worry about the unanswerable questions. She tucked them in at night, kissed them on the forehead and gave thanks for another day with all her family around her. And that was enough. Frankly it should be enough for us too.