Why “bounce back” when you can simply f l o w forward?
We just got back from a long trip. But I don’t feel like I’m “back”. Do you know what I mean? Like, I feel this heavy pressure to get “back” to normal. To get back to the gym. To get back to eating healthy. To get back to my to-do list. To get back to being on top of everything. To get back to a clean house. To get back to cooking. To get back to writing.
But, I’ve been trying this new thing where I don’t accept the pressure I put on myself. Because that’s the truth. No one else is putting that pressure on me. It’s self-inflicted. So I’m hearing it, I’m feeling it, but in the end, I’m letting it pass. I’m not letting it take up space in my chest and my mind. I’m not letting it sit heavy on my shoulders, weighing me down, distracting me from what’s most important. I’m being patient with myself, giving myself time to get “back” to normal. Whatever that even means.
I’m being kind to myself. Just like I’m constantly preaching to my kids, over and over and OVER again. Treat others as you’d like to be treated. Treat YOURSELF like you’d treat others. Just be a nice person. To yourself and to others.
Don’t tie your identity so tightly around who you think you’re SUPPOSED to be. The perfect mom and wife and writer and friend and homemaker and and and. Just show up as YOU. Authentic, flawed, real, 100% perfcked YOU. That’s who they need. That’s who we all need. I love you. I love me.