Every year I get suckered into believing that message we have all heard, “New Year New Me.” This year as I sit down to reflect on the things I want to accomplish as a Mama, Wife, Business Woman and overall human I realized I don’t want a new me. I want to improve the person I am.
With that, I am focusing on three things that I will use to be my best and most intentional self in 2020.
- We all have the same number of hours in the day as Beyoncé.
Sometimes I feel less than. The time between when I wake up to when I rest my head to sleep is never enough to get it all done. How in the world am I supposed to live up to the Instagram mamas, crush it at the office every day, keep the house clean all while being the wife my husband always dreamed of? This attitude is what contributes to my overwhelm. So, this year I will remind myself we all have the same hours in the day as Beyoncé. Sure, she has a team and probably someone who follows her with a fan to achieve that perfectly wind tousled hair, but the truth is instead of wasting time on worry she is spending her time living the life she wants. With the Queen B in mind, I am challenging myself to spend my time planning how I want to live and how to accomplish those goals in 2020. I will not waste time on stress about what I have not yet accomplished.
- I will be present where my feet are.
Before having my daughter Claire, I never truly respected all that mamas do. I mean I wildly underestimated how much is expected of women who have literally grown a human. This pressure has always left me thinking about the to-do list that is as long as a CVS receipt. The trouble is that even if I check everything off my list, I have missed important moments because I was thinking about what comes next. In this new decade, I have committed to being present where my feet are. In those morning moments when I am up before the sun and the house is quiet in sleep, I will fill my own cup first. I will take inventory of the things I am feeling and the things I need to grow this year. I will soak up every minute with my daughter who changes every day. I will put down the dang cell phone and meet her gaze when she looks up at me. I will love on my husband as if we are still honeymooning without letting the housework or stress from the day creep into our quality time. I will bring my crazy passion for my career to work. I will not put the job I love on the back burner because I happen to also have a family. By being present in the moment I think I can really make leaps and bounds towards flourishing in each area of my life.
- I will remember we are all just fighting the good fight.
Mamas, we are all always our harshest critics am I right? This year I want to embrace the grace. Grace for myself and grace for others. Hear me when I say I may have laid out perfect plans and I am well on my way to a being better each day than I was the day before, but I can promise you ladies that I will fail. Somedays I will fall short and feel disappointed in myself. When that happens, I will prioritize learning from that experience and being gentle with myself. I will try to contribute to a culture of grace in the Mommy Community that exists today. I will talk about the hard things as often as I do the things I am most proud of. I will lift mamas up who are having a hard time being graceful with themselves. I will not curate or participate in a social media climate that leaves other moms feeling the overwhelm that comes from Insta pics that make life look sparkly and unattainable. I will remind myself every day that us mamas are all just fighting the good fight and doing our best counts for something.
Friends, it is 2020. This year I wish you all nothing but love, laughter and happiness. I hope you love on yourself like you love on others. I hope you laugh at your imperfections and enjoy the ride. I hope you learn to be happy with this chaotic life of ours even when it gets messy and hard. Life is short, let this be the year we are the best version of ourselves.
