You want it all, but you struggle with how to accomplish everything.
You spend too much time worrying.
You doubt what you do and wonder how you can get everything you need to do done in the time frame you have to do it.
The thing is, you probably realize that, in the long run, you’re doing fine. You do the best you can. Some of you may have read all the books on the self-help top-10 list. You watch Oprah and Dr. Phil and tune in to other shows about self-empowerment, and you understand — at least at a basic level — that you should be relaxed and happy on your life’s journey.
Perhaps you’ve learned to set daily priorities, to pick your battles, and you’ve even come to a sort of peace with your house not being as clean and orderly as it was before you became a mother and had children running all about the place.
But you don’t necessarily feel that way, do you?
Things weigh on you. Sure, you may go through a checklist: Are you working out enough, eating healthy, spending enough time with your family and kids? It comes down to something more pressing: How can you be relaxed and happy with the washer and the dryer running, your child in bed with a fever and a big project at work due tomorrow? Sitters don’t watch sick babies and you really need to run to the supermarket to get a few things. Yet another 18-hour day looms.
On top of it all, your ex just called and said that he has these great tickets to the game on what should be his weekend to take the kids. If you say let him out of his obligation to the kids (and you!), it means that, once again, you haven’t stuck to your guns and wonder why it’s OK, again, that you’re the one who has to keep changing your plans. If you say no, well, let’s just say he’ll remind you that there are ”reasons” why you’re divorced. You ultimately say OK, because you don’t want your child with someone who can’t pick priorities and chooses a game over time with his own child. You choose the lesser of the two evils.
Sound familiar, even in part? These are just a few examples and glimpses into what fills our days (and what sometimes gets in the way of them too). Your personal scenarios might be different or the same.
Are there aspects of your life that drag you down, where you feel that your day-to-day duties (and these are just personal obligations) are too much, or just too wearying? Let me know. As we explore my concepts of life’s rhythms, I want to hear from women whose stories can help illuminate the problem, and help point the way toward other solutions.