Taking a Step Back Isn’t Always Easy

Today is the day to start again.

Today I plan to get a little more personal and let you inside my world a bit.   I have two fabulously crazy kids that are 11 and 13.  Along with my beautiful husband, these three are my life and always have been.  My world revolves around them day and night, like so many other moms and wives, and I love virtually every minute of it.

We are an athletic family.  My kids play competitive sports; we are all active and surround ourselves with events that keep us on the go virtually seven days a week.  We have been holding this schedule for so long that it became second nature years ago.  But a person can only maintain this over-scheduling for so long before something has to give.    I am a product of my own making and could see the problem coming for months but was hell bent on ignoring it.

As you know, you can only ignore things for so long before they hit you smack dab in the face and knock you flat on your back.

Two months ago, I was the first one to crack and literally said ” somethings gotta give”.

Something did give and my family and I took some much needed time off of our hectic schedule in August and did something that we used to make time for – travelling as a family. Over those couple of weeks in August we really took some time to look at what our schedule had become and made some decisions on toning things down a bit for all of us.   Wishful thinking.

September hit.

School started and life started to get busy again.   Different sports started and volunteering responsibilities kicked into high gear again.

Now we are into the middle of October and I’m looking at our calendar on the fridge and see that we are filling up fast.

But this time around, I am a little more cautious of not losing sight of what it felt like hitting that wall in August.   This time around I am learning to delegate; learning to not be so available to others outside of my family;  guiding my family to a schedule filled with less must-do’s.

What I have learned this summer is that we will always be a family that likes to keep busy but that there is fine line between busy and ridiculous.  

What I learned this summer is that my kids will remember playing sports all their childhood but not every game they played.  

What I learned this summer is nothing short of what I have always known but choose to ignore – happiness doesn’t come from how many goals my kids scores or how fast they can run.

Happiness comes from spending time with friends and family and making memories that last. 

What I learned this summer is that taking a step back isn’t always easy, but sometimes it is absolutely necessary.