I’ve always considered myself a positive person – at least on the outside to the public-facing world. Outgoing, vocal and definitely witty, I appear to have my shit together, however that is the furthest from the truth.
There are days that is a struggle to get out of bed. There are days that I lay awake at 2 am thinking about the laundry list of tasks I need to accomplish the next day. There are times when I’d prefer to just throw away the overflowing dishes and start over. There are days when it takes every ounce of my being to just function.
Our Society
I’m a firm believer that the societal beliefs placed on women has royally screwed my (and others) headspace. Does Leave It To Beaver ring bell?
What is so refreshing in today’s society, is that women like myself and influencers are speaking out and negating this old-age tale that women have to have their shit together or else they are failing.
Being a mother is overwhelming. Having a job is overwhelming. Maintaining a home is overwhelming. Bundle that all together and you get a chaotic, turbulent, anxiety-inducing scenario.
I know I’m not the only one who believes this and who feels this on the daily. And if you don’t, I commend you for having your mindset in place to tackle it all.
But for me, I needed to come up with a word for 2022 that would give me the grace and power to push through.
My 2022 Word
My word is BREATHE.
There are many times throughout the day where my mind and my body are racing a mile a minute and by the end of the day I feel like nothing was accomplished. Almost like a hamster running on a wheel, I’m constantly moving but getting nowhere.
That doesn’t do me any good and that certainly doesn’t get any boxes checked off.
Instead of rushing through the day in order to get everything “completed”, my goal for 2022 is to breathe.
You may be thinking that breathing is just something we do without having to think, however intentional breathing has been known to have some serious and positive effects on one’s mind, body and soul.
The Facts
“Consciously changing the way you breathe appears to send a signal to the brain to adjust the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system, which can slow heart rate and digestion and promote feelings of calm as well as the sympathetic system, which controls the release of stress hormones like cortisol”(Alderman, NYT).
I could probably talk about this topic all day, but I’ll leave you with this…
Remember, that you are not alone. The feeling that comes along with everything that you have to get done in a day is normal. You are not failing if you ask for help. You are not failing if you can’t get it all done. You are not failing if you are vocal about it.
Social media definitely has some negative components to it, but the positive part of these platforms is being able to see that not everyone has their shit together. And I am one of them.