On any given day, I have a never-ending list of things to do.
Two part-time jobs, school, two children, a husband, a house, and they all need my attention. I am constantly pulled in different directions. Which thing is most important? What can wait until tomorrow? Which bill needs paid when? My mind is racing.
There are roughly 11 different piles of laundry in this house right now that need to be washed or put away. My vacuum cleaner is screaming at me to empty it and use it again. My mind is running through the 784 things that need to be accomplished this month. And do you know where I am doing my thinking?
My couch.
I am sitting rather lazily, and I have been for quite a while. It’s counterintuitive and it’s getting me nowhere, but for right now I let myself relax. Because you know what would happen if I felt guilty each time I sat down even though I had something to do? I would never live a single second of my day without guilt. I refuse to feel that way.
I don’t shame myself for not having a perfectly clean house. I don’t care that my children didn’t eat a well-balanced meal for every meal of the week. I’m allowed to relax.
I’m allowed to care for myself and I don’t have to come last.
Maybe I’m too easy on myself. Everywhere I turn a parent is feeling bad about something. The way she looks, what she accomplishes, how she parented that day, etc. It’s ridiculous! We need to stop believing the lie that we must be perfect. I surely am never going to get there. Don’t get me wrong, I do have plenty of days where I feel like I failed at something. But I refuse to let it control my life. One bad day is not who I am as a person. I am choosing to see all that I am and not all that I can or cannot get done.
