Being All the Things

https://literaryminded.com.au

It was another Friday night. Which meant another end of the work/school week. It was another night of my husband, kids and I all crashing onto the living room furniture and praying there was nothing else we had to do over the next two days. But there was, there was more to do. There was church and meal prep and a soccer game for both kids. There was worship team warm ups and a small group to attend, There was side-job hustle, budgets to balance and parenting to do. We all were wearing so many hats no one could remember what color hair they had.

It was getting to be a whole lot of ridiculous all the things we were trying to be.

After the kids were bed and my husband and I had caught a second wind we took an honest look at our schedule. With the cold precision of a well-trained ninja we started removing things from our calendar.

Because it was all to much.

The husband and I both realized that this was not the life we wanted to have. If filling every waking hour with work, enrichment activities, service and socializing meant being in the same space when we were sleeping we did not want to keep up with the Joneses. I realized that we were teaching our kids that a busy schedule was the way of success. That always saying yes to every opportunity was the way to serve God. Even if that meant our time at home was more ER triage than restful haven.

malekbeats.com

That's when I took a sabbatical. We were moving for the I don't know what time and it was an opportunity to step away from the crazy schedule that had been running our lives. I didn't know what that would mean for myself. I wasn't sure that if I didn't sign-up for every club, service project and class party that I had much worth. But in that time of resting, I found peace and joy again. I took a step out of the crazy cycle and entered a meadow of peace that left me rejuvenated and focused on where exactly I should be doing the work.

This time, I can do the things that bring me joy. Not the things that others need to do. Here and now is a chance to just wear one hat instead of sweating under a pile of responsibilities that leave me gasping for air. Now, I'm going to look for what works for me and my family. As awesome as it is to do the work that brings me joy, I'm going to be mindful of what my family needs as well. My family needs down time. I need down time. I can't be offering my best self to everyone outside my home and then isolate in my bedroom for the whole weekend. When I'm doing my work, great. I am fully there. But when I'm home, I need to be fully there too. So that means I'm going to be selective in my activity choosing.




Just do it. Take a red sharpie and correct that calendar. Show it who's boss.