This morning while I was at church, during a quiet time between prayers, I thought of  Daffy Duck’s famous line, “Yikes and away!”     I knew it was a very random thought (and to admit that I even thought of it is quite nerdish indeed), but somehow my second thought was how that line can actually apply to my life.

For the busy person, especially us moms, daily life is comprised with a  succession of decisions.  From our first waking moment, we are  making a decision to get out of bed and face the day. Or not.  When one’s household is filled with other people, we are regularly faced with the decision to be kind, patient, caring, forgiving.  Or not.  Many times in a span of a week, our days may be  filled with unexpected occurrences, even almost seemingly impossible predicaments.  But depending on our reaction, we can miss that moment of grace, of teaching, of even peace in the midst of chaos.

I have been thinking about how my daily life is filled with a succession of “yeses”.  Sometimes my yes may be very timid and hesitant, more like a half-yes.   Those are days that are often filled with me complaining about every little thing, people staying out of my path, and at the end of day, a feeling like I missed something important.  But there are other days, though still tough, that are started with a prayer and a yes, a yes of acceptance of whatever the day may bring.   And when those absolutely crazy unexpected mishaps happen, I am able to embrace all the grace bestowed upon me for that day and I able to rise above the craziness and to love, and to give hugs, and to smile because that moment has been ordained for me for that very day.   Obviously, there will be days, when my yeses are a mixture of both.

And so “Yikes and away” can become sort of a mantra.  To me, it means “Yikes! and Yes! I am accepting all the grace that is meant for this moment, this day.”  It means “Geronimo! I am choosing to do the right thing and I am jumping in all the way.”  For me, it also means, “I trust you God for the strength and graces for this day.” When the alarm clock goes off when it is still dark out, and I reach out to hold my husband’s hand (see my morning ritual here),  and I murmur a little prayer, I can say as I pull myself out of bed, “Yikes and away!” as the day begins.  I can say “Yikes and away” when I am making my husband’s sandwich in the morning.  I can say “Yikes and away!”(in my head) when a not so nice person calls me at work.   I can say “Yikes and away!” when my sweet child says he’s sorry and I’m still angry but I still give him a big hug.  I can say “Yikes and away!” and be kind when I lack patience with my mom.  I can also say “Yikes and away!” when my husband says, “Let’s go for a drive”.  I can say “Yikes and away!” when my little girl asks me to read her a story.  I can say “Yikes and away!’ when someone is telling me about their day when I have a to-do list several feet long.  I can say “Yikes and away!” to the adventure each day, each moment promises.

And if I say “Yikes and away!” with all my heart I will most surely avoid all those “trees” and “rocks” of discontent and ingratitude that will only weigh me down.

If you are not familiar with this beloved Looney Tunes clip, you can review it here.

For the full episode of Robin Hood Daffy, click here.

Yikes and away!