Today's Goal: Keep the Tiny Humans [and Yourself] Alive
I was reminded of this important truth last night as I was getting my first moments of silence and drinking a warm cup of Natural Calm (basically a warm cup of 'tea' made up of magnesium) - each day does not require that we accomplish some big, audacious goal. The success of the day doesn't need to be measured with how much laundry was done, how many things you got done for the business or how many Pinterest crafts you completed with your children. Some days survival is the main goal, and that's okay.
Recently my social media has been bombarded with posts encouraging me to use this extra time to learn a new hobby, to start a new eating plan, to catch up on all those books I've been meaning to read or to start the side hustle I've always dreamed of but never had the 'time' for.
My response to this has been - WHAT TIME???
If you are a mama of a newborn or a toddler you may be having a similar reaction. We are supposed to deal with the anxiety and changes of this pandemic, keep our houses clean, cook meals for everyone, make homemade playdough and daily art projects and try to work from home all while keeping up our self-care, communicating with friends and family and keeping ourselves and our children clean, fed and happy.
I am thankful that my family has been able to shelter in place and I have flexibility where I am able to devote most of my day caring for my child while still being able to get some work in during naps, after bedtime and on the weekends when my husband isn't working. I am so thankful and realize how blessed we are to be able to do this. I have much to be grateful for. BUT what I do not have is an abundance of uninterrupted time to devote to new passions and projects.
Prior to this pandemic when my son was in preschool and I was working during the day I would measure my success by how many clients I was able to see and help that day, how many blog posts I was able to write, or how many people I was able to connect within the community. Today I measure my success a bit differently.
Now I am concerned about:
How many times did I want to become frustrated with my toddler but I was able to take a deep breath and keep my cool.
How many hours did we spend outside exploring and enjoying the day?
Did everyone eat today?
Did we all have clean underwear, pants, shirts, and socks?
Are there enough clean dishes for dinner?
Is the house 'livable' - notice I didn't say super clean or spotless.
My list of tasks to mark 'success' has shifted. And that's okay.
If you're finding yourself trying to measure your days based on what you used to be able to accomplish I want to encourage you to step back, take a look from a new perspective and redefine what success looks like to you in the midst of drastic schedule change and global pandemic. It's okay to not be productive. It's okay to not check 20 things off your list.
For today, it's enough to just keep everyone alive. Everything else is just a bonus.
You are enough. What you are doing is enough. We will get through this.