“I’m failing at this!”
Be honest. Have you ever said that before?
Here’s the truth: it’s been a rough week. I won’t go into all the details of every single last thing that put me in that place, but I’ll just tell you that I had many moments where I felt like I was suffocating from overwhelm.
To be totally vulnerable, the overwhelm frustrated me so much… You see, I’ve worked so hard this year to find breathing room in my life. I’ve said no repeatedly. I’ve stepped back, stepped away, and stepped aside.
And yet, here I was: feeling stretched way too thin and like life was spinning out of control.
I felt like such a failure… I felt like I was failing in every area. I mean, hello, this week I’m even failing at having a Year of Rest!
{Yes, I know. That’s kind of crazy talk. But that’s exactly how I felt!}
Last Saturday evening, I was so stressed by the events of the prior 48 hours (I didn’t help that it was “that time of the month” and there were some hormones raging, too!).
I called a good friend up and just said, “I’m a mess!”
This good friend listened, cared, listened some more, asked good questions, loved on me, and gave me the exact counsel I needed to hear in that moment.
“You’re going to get through this, Crystal. Just breathe. Just take one day at a time. Stop worrying about three days from now or three weeks from now. Just focus on today. Live today, this moment, well.”
I loved that advice and it was just what I needed. I can’t do everything, but I can focus on doing the next right thing.
And you know what else I needed this week? My friend Jessica Turner’s video series called Stretched Too Thin. Jessica is a working mom of three who knows what overwhelm looks like and she has such a heart to encourage moms — especially working moms — with inspiration and practical ideas for overcoming that overwhelm.
Yesterday, she launched a FREE 4-part video series to encourage women who are feeling exhausted, burnt out, and, frankly, just like I was feeling this week.
The videos are like sitting down to a cup of coffee among honest friends who get your struggles and stress and will encourage you that this mothering thing is hard.
You can sign up for the videos for free here. I hope you are as encouraged with them as I was this week.
And remember, you are not alone. You are not a failure. Keep doing the next right thing! We’re in this together!
