I Need Me Too

Being a mom of four girls in this day and age is not an easy feat. Add being single, having a full-time job, being in a relationship and trying to keep my sanity in tact and you have a true balancing act on your hands. There are days when I feel like Nick Wallenda walking across the Grand Canyon carrying a stick on a tight rope. Except my stick are all the hats I aforementioned and that tight rope is a string of my emotions, my stability and sanity holding on trying not to break. When you're silently wearing a cape, and an S on your chest, you really don't have time to allow your emotions to run a muck or as the young people say these days "get in your feelings."

So what do you do when you are on teenage drama overload, burned out on mommy can I haves, 25 emails you have to answer and provide information on in the next 30 minutes and a relationship you're trying to maintain?

The important thing to realize is that you still have to fit YOU into the equation. If you do not add YOURSELF on your to do list then you will be done for and burned out. Every task doesn't have to be a race to the finish line. It took me a long time to realize that I am just as important to myself as all the people
I've committed myself to. Sometimes I have a relapse by forgetting that and I'm reminded of it with headaches, tension in my shoulders and the occasional crying spell.

It would be nice to balance yourself by jumping in a taxi cab, packing a bag and getting away fast. ( Kindred the Family Soul lyrics). But let's be realistic you can't do it everyday and not every week for that matter. However, all isn't lost just because viewing the country while driving on cruise control listening to your favorite music in 75 degree weather isn't an option. It doesn't take much to balance yourself throughout the day and put your mind at ease. I've found that a few minutes with my hobbies does wonders for me. Stealing away 10 minutes to look through your favorite magazine, play an online or app game or even checking your social networking account a few times a day can get your creative juices flowing again. Walking and exercising is just as relaxing for the mind as it is good for the body. And of course a few minutes of prayer and/or reading a few bible scriptures will do a world of good.  And during the most crucial pressure points of the day it's best to back away from what's causing you duress.

One of my favorite things to do is cook. I really enjoy it and I consider myself a pretty decent cook. But there are days when a full course meal is not a part of my agenda for the evening. I use to feel bad if I didn't cook a meal for my girls but I have learned that the objective is to make sure they eat not to emulate Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray everyday. The people in our lives appreciate a happy, well-balanced, emotionally stable us. Not someone who is running around like a chicken with their head cut off ready to pluck at any moment.  A virtuous woman knows her limits and is not afraid to say when she needs a time out. So before you emotionally tap out, or physically snap out and someone finds you in a corner balled up in a fetal position make time for yourself, put you first and the rest of the day you'll be shining bright like a diamond.