I don’t like to say I’m a busy person. I think “busyness” is silly and trendy and I try to avoid it. It seems like overwhelming ourselves has become a bad habit to prove we have purpose, or maybe it is just human nature to add more and more because if ever we lived a quiet and simple life we might find out that our “perfect little lives” were actually quite boring and unfulfilling. I’m not really sure the reason, but I find no shame in having a loose schedule.
That being said..I have been SO busy lately, and it seems that no matter how I try to shuffle things around there are just not enough hours in the day. I try to prioritize my priorities, but in the end it just feels like everything is the most important thing.
I have my own recruiting business which I LOVE. I love running my own business because it offers flexibility and allows me to be home with my children but still pursue my career goals. It is something that I am good at, and I find it energizing and exciting to know that I can help support the family financially. I have someone who is great with my boys who comes to the house a couple of mornings a week to play with them while I get some focused work done, and the rest of the week, I squeeze it in between play dates, grocery shopping, trips to the playground, meal prep and all of the other things we Moms do.
While I enjoy my work, it also allows me to send my oldest son to the private pre-school that I had my heart set on and that is “one of the most important things.”
Recently my youngest son received an autism spectrum diagnosis and we have been launched full force into the world of Early Intervention Services with special ed, speech therapy, and occupational therapy filling our mornings. It has been such a positive experience for my son, and I’m thrilled with the progress that he has been making. It’s wonderful to see him communicating better and feeling less frustrated. Likewise, I have spent many evenings reading books, articles, and research about his diagnosis and learning all that I can to ensure we are creating an environment that he can thrive in. I have attended workshops and seminars and basically absorbed any free information I can find. Hearing my son’s laughter throughout my day is my reward, and this is “one of the most important things.”
At the beginning of this year I started bringing my family to the chiropractor regularly due to some articles I had read on sensory sensitivities and chiropractic care. To my great relief and joy, I have seen dramatic and wonderful changes. Knowing what pediatric chiropractics has done for my children has filled me with an overwhelming need to tell EVERYONE who has a child on the spectrum or with sensory sensitivities that there is something life-changing that they can do for their family. For this reason, I share my Mom testimonial at seminars that I organize with AAC Family Wellness Center, and that is “one of the most important things.”
Over the past year, I have dramatically changed my diet to become healthier and incorporated workouts and jogging and have successfully lost 30lbs, and over 20 inches. I feel so much healthier, and I try to keep up this healthier, yet time-consuming, lifestyle because this is “one of the most important things.”
When I was a child, I dreamt of having two boys. Not one…not three…not girls, but two boys. I played in the dirt with them, told them silly tales, snuggled them morning, noon and night, and took them out for ice cream on hot days. This was always the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for me. I am now living my dream every morning when I wake up to my two boys. Despite all that is going on in life and the fact that my childhood dreams didn’t know to worry about money, dishes, laundry or relationships, it is important to me that I appreciate that I am living my dream. I never want to become so swallowed up in life that I forget how happy I am, and this is “one of the most important things.”
Writing has always been my deepest, truest passion. I am currently in the process of publishing a children’s book that I wrote, and have even begun doing some other writing gigs on the side. There is something magical about written words. I am a very deep and emotional person and writing has saved me by giving me a positive outlet to sort out my thoughts and feelings. I also enjoy creating things, and stories are the most complete creation – from the imagination in your head to the words on paper. It starts out completely blank and from absolute emptiness, a writer evokes thoughts and emotions in a reader that they have never even met. When I write, the purest form of myself is revealed, and it has always been a great joy and necessary outlet, making it “one of the most important things.”
Throughout all of these endeavors, there has been one person who stands by me, makes it possible, paves the way – both financially and emotionally – for me to live and build on my dream, and that person is my husband. I recently read that 34% of marriages end in divorce and that in cases where couples are raising a special needs child that percentage skyrockets to 80%. I’m not sure if that statistic is correct; however, I do know that it increases the odds. First, let me preface this by saying that I love my husband, and we make a kick-ass team, and that is why I want to be with him for the rest of my life. BUT, I have been divorced before, I know the headache and the heartache, and I am the child of divorce so I know that devastation as well, and I believe that marriage is the core of the family. I want to do everything I can to keep that foundation strong. Marriages don’t sustain themselves. They are an enormous amount of worth-while effort. It mostly just takes love, but when you can’t find that, then it takes an unbelievable amount of patience, understanding, acceptance, support, and sacrifice. My marriage is “one of the most important things” and keeping it healthy is an ongoing affair.
In the end, none of this matters without my mental health and having seen so many loved ones crushed by depression or anxiety, taking care of my mind has become a priority. I know that it needs rest, that I cannot “go go go” and still function properly. I take “me” time and zone out to a favorite show, pop an evening beer, or just sit out on my front porch and enjoy letting the world be around me. I refuse to let the stress of what must be done stop me from taking care of my mind because as I mature I realize that taking care of ourselves – mind, body and soul – well…that is “one of the most important things.”
I guess I should say I’m scheduled, not I’m busy, because much of what I do is just living and enjoying my life, but sometimes that makes me too busy to do much else, and I guess there’s not much else I want to do. Yes, sometimes I can’t fit it all into a day and that is bothersome because, as I’ve explained, it is all “one of the most important things”
Well this weekend we take a break from it all and my niece and nephews are coming for a giant cousin slumber party because in case I haven’t mentioned…slumber parties are “one of the most important things!” 🙂
