When life gives you lemons, squeeze them and make a margarita! Don't you just love that saying?! I saw it on a billboard somewhere I thought it was so catchy. No? Anyways, I don't know about you but my life hands out sour lemons all time. I've been thrown curveballs since I can remember and I honestly don't think I've started to be able to dodge them until recently in my life. The concept of understanding the fact that things happen and that it's never the end of the world was harder than ever when I was a new parent. I was a nervous wreck all the time. Oh.Em.Gee it takes forever to get ready being a new parent and having to remember everything for this tiny little bean and holy crap we're late! That was pretty much my life for at least the first year of Sebastian's life. Freaking out mess. But really I've always been sort of freaking out when things don't go the way I had them written down. One. clean the house. Two. do the groceries. Three. do laundry and fold it. Four. cook dinner & feed my family. Five. give my child a bath. If I found myself only getting to finish one or two of these off my list I'd feel like an utter failure. This past weekend is an example. Saturday was a beautiful day and Sebastian was a ball of energy. Bobby got home from work that morning and was in the other room sleeping after working twelve hours and so to keep my sanity I packed us up and headed to my in-laws for the day. Sebastian played with his cousin and in turn released some godzilla energy and I got our wash done. I pushed my to-do list aside for the most part. Sunday I started the day off by doing nearly all of my cleaning and good thing because late morning I got an unexpected call about work and in the end I was rollin' into work to close up my coffee shop. This totally ruined and messed up my day. There went folding clothes, taking down my Christmas three and food shopping. I was discouraged but kept on truckin'. At times you just have to let things go and don't let them weigh on your heart too heavy. Other times you just have to pick yourself up and just keep moving. After work I was determined to go food shopping. I didn't care that it was getting real late and that by the time I got home it was eight. Or that I was super tired and wished I was just on the couch blogging. It's good to realize that pouting about things that you can't control does not do you any good.
Here's a bit of motivation I give you for whenever you find yourself in the same situations:
1// Don't be too hard on yourself. It's okay to not be perfect. As a parent, a wife or as a human for gods sake! No one is perfect. I think as a society we have a hard time with this even though we say it all the time but do we all really grasp it. Do you really truly appreciate you? Well, please do because your great. This has been tough for me. It's helped tremendously that I have my husband who can see when I'm kicking myself in the face and brings it to my attention. Or when he points out and says hey hun, did you not realize you did all this today...Be nice to yourself.
2// Ask for help! Okay so I bet some of you are like what? Seriously, ask for help. If not from your husband who will most definitely want to lend a hand (well, mine's pretty swell in that department), ask anyone. Your mom or dad, sister or brother. How about a close neighbor or even a friend. There is always help. Asking for help is A-Okay. Being overwhelmed & stressed is not healthy. Ask for that help in every aspect in life. Work, home or even school. It might surprise you. It has done wonders for me :)
3// Minimize. Cut down on your to-do list or just spread it out over the week. Less, really is more. Ward against becoming a slave. I know I feel like that. Didn't I just clean the living room? Don't live in the shadow of always thinking you have to have everything together. Set limits as to how much you can do in a day and stick to that. More or less is okay but do it with out feeling smothered.
4// Take a break. Take it easy. Know when you need a break. Push everything aside if you must and recuperate. Or if things aren't going the way you planned like for me this past weekend, believe that it is what it is. Now and again there is nothing wrong with shrugging it off and telling yourself things will get done when they're done. Right? I mean that the world isn't going to come to an end or your loved ones aren't going to hate you. Just take a breath and move on. Tomorrow is a new day and a new way.
Well, that's my two cents on that subject. It's been on my mind lately. I'd like to think that you might have felt this way at some point in time and here's me telling you that you are not alone. Hugs to you.
♥A.
