Friday, September 26, 2008

430 Deborah Gardners?!

Before becoming a "Gardner" I was "Deborah Dushku", the one and only in the whole world! Although my Albanian last name was a little weird, I revelled in the fact that I was unique. Well, the other day, a friend sent this link to me where you can see how many people in the USA have the same name as you do. That did it! There are 430 Deborah Gardners in the USA. Humph! As if that's not bad, there are 753,964 "Deborahs" and 173,992 "Gardners" in the USA. That's it, I'm changing my name to "LaSchwanda Dushku". But seriously, I think each woman (moms, in particular) has a personal quest for uniqueness...to be different...unordinary. In between scrubbing toilets, thawing the chicken, and taking child #2 to piano lessons, moms everywhere seem to be asking themselves: "Is this as good as it gets?" What if that IS as good as it gets? Could we accept it and be content? Or happy?

I believe that here in the USA we are suffering from an epidemic of what I call DWD, or in other words "Disgruntled Woman Disorder". Women everywhere have become unsatisfied. They want more furniture, more money, more freedom, more power, more! more! more! Housewives have become restless. In fact, there is an entire TV series about "Desperate Housewives" and millions of unsatisfied women tune in every season to live vicariously through these women's lives. Is this also why so many of us are hooked on the "Twilight" books which offer an endless buffet of danger, romance, & suspense all while sitting on the couch in our sweats with a pony tail?

On the other hand, I know several amazing women in my own community--mothers with their quivers full of children--who never do anything all that exciting, are stay-at-home moms thawing out their chicken, and yet they are completely content where they are at.

So here are my questions for discussion:

Have you ever suffered from DWD and how have you pulled through it?
Is it possible to feel content in an ordinary life?
Do you think each woman has a special personal mission from God?