What if tomorrow never comes? Pursuing your passions NOW and aligning with your own true north.
I'm always digging deeper, trying to find meaning, understanding, the rhyme behind the reason behind everything. I don't want this post to feel that it's based out of fear by any means, but I also want to help other moms and women realize there will never be a perfect time, for anything. It's up to us to make choices each and every day of what we want to do now and figuring out a way to make it happen. There were a few pivotal moments that stand out to me in my own life that have helped me gain clarity on why I am the way I am...wanting to do ALL of the things, the adventures, the travel, the business goals, the hobbies, the memories made. I've always been like this since I was a child, but there's been a heightened sense of urgency over the last decade, and I'm realizing there's an underlying fear that the opportunity won't always be there.
What if time runs out?
Will I have experienced all life has to offer?
2009- The best and worst year- became a mother & also lost my mother
2012- Diagnosed with Lyme disease
2015- Diagnosis of late-stage, chronic, neurological Lyme disease
There have been so many up and down moments in life, gaining and losing loved ones, new beginnings and tearful endings, but these right here were the ones that really shook things up for me. Witnessing the life of my mother cut short at just 45 years old, so young with SO much ahead of her. Never being given the opportunity to meet her grandkids and see them grow up, to know or even meet my husband and relax knowing that I finally found someone that treats me and our children so beautifully, or being able to live out that next chapter of her own life as an "empty nester." There are some things I know for a fact that she expressed to me that she was never able to experience, and others that I'm sure were tucked away in the "I wish" corner of her mind and heart that none of us will ever know about.
Then, when my own life and health was impacted by crippling Lyme disease. I didn't realize how much I took my health for granted until I was physically unable to do what I wanted anymore. I would get so hung up on getting abs, or dropping 10 lbs, or running a faster mile, that I didn't realize what life would be like not even being able to get out of bed, or to shower without pain, my eyes in too much pain from the bright lights to even read my daughter a bedtime story. As my memory increases to fail, and my joint pain worsens, there's a lingering fear of relapse that's always there. An underlying ptsd of waking up and not being able to feel my legs again, or being able to see, or knife stabbing chest pains that bring me to the E.R. Whenever I don't feel like going for a run, taking a hike, or chasing my kids outside, I count my blessings of having a body that's capable of these things and no longer take it for granted.
So many times we hear these stories of traumatic life events that bring someone to their knees, but from there is where their life truly begins. There is an awakening that can't be understood by someone unless they've gone through an experience like this. Something that shakes them to the core. It's different witnessing it from the outside, I've been on both sides of it. There's sympathy, but can't be empathy unless you can truly relate and have walked in those shoes.
I can tell you first hand, please don't wait for something like this to happen in order to take the first steps in creating a life you choose, and a life you love. I know you feel it. You have those urges, thoughts, feelings of "I wish I could...". Feeling tired, burnt out, unfulfilled, like there's something more, even though you're already doing it "all".
Right?
As a mother, society has somehow made it the norm for us to do it all. You have to be the perfect mom, the perfect employee, the perfect wife or partner, the caretaker of the home, the chef, run the errands, do the laundry, pay the bills, the #1 fan, the taxi service, in charge of the shopping, the accountant, the financial planner, the organizer, the finder, the keeper, the gifter, the counselor, and lately the teacher/homeschooler...all while being engaged with your family & nurturing friendships...or maybe you're thinking what friendships?
We've let those go to the wayside too.
The thing is, even if you try, you'll never satisfy everyone. Working mom? How dare you take time away from your kids? SAHM? You'll never understand stress of a career-you just play all day, must be nice. Hire a cleaning lady? You're lazy. Go to the gym? How dare you. Start a business? Too risky, I can't believe you'd jeopardize your family's stability.
Enjoy or take on a new hobby? There isn't time for that, you have to get your kids to dance class.
See where this leads ladies?
Mamas?
We can't go through life trying to make everyone happy and please everyone else. There's a difference between fulfillment and accomplishment. Yes, many times the lines are blurred between the two and you CAN have both, but there's a difference.
One thing that is for sure-- joy is often traded for both of them.
When you're living out your true purpose, you should be able to experience the art of fulfillment and the pursuit of achievement, with joy still the focus of your heart's center.
Let's uncover what that is.
Let's find your true north, and pursue it. Quit leading with the "shoulds" and lead with joy instead.
Remember to embrace the adventure ahead,
Steph
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