Real Talk

I recently took the Enneagram test as part of a company-wide retreat. I sat across the table from a facilitator as they threw question after question at me. “How do you handle failure?” “Do you walk into a room and know where all of the exits are?” “Do you make lists?” After 45 minutes of yes, no, and maybe so, I was labeled as Enneagram Type 3: The Achiever. At first I sat tall as the facilitator read of some of the common qualities. Adaptable. Excelling. Driven. Yes, yes, yes! But then they read a Enneagram Three’s qualities at their worst. Image-conscious. Success oriented. Workaholic. Competitive. It made me stop in my tracks and ask, am I at my worst or my best for...

The low-point strikes again, except this time it was REALLY hard to get back up. Sometimes we get in ruts. And it’s NORMAL for everyone. The trick is getting yourself out. I’m usually pretty good at being aware when I’m in a rut and knowing how to get myself out of it. This one was different, this one was debilitating. Nothing really major happened to me, I just couldn’t keep going. There were a handful of reasons that may have caused the rut: overworking, not enough rest, duties of parenthood, maintaining a household, bills, etc. It gets exhausting. And if I’m not careful to balance the fun stuff with the hard stuff, I can get myself into a major rut....

One of the most intimidating things about motherhood is preparing these tiny humans to grow up and be self sufficient functioning humans of society. As a product of the “no, because I said so” generation, I feel I was left to learn some lessons in less than desirable ways. We knew we couldn't, but not why we shouldn't. So when the time came that we could, we still weren't really prepared for the consequences that came with such freedoms. Recently, in a discussion among friends the topic of makeup came up. It seems both our daughters (age 6 & 7) have a fascination with makeup. And while I don’t love the stuff in my own life, I know that she...

I’ve been told countless times, “You make your life look so easy. You seem to have everything under control. How do you do it?” Newsflash ... I have NOTHING under control. Who really does, anyway? Aren’t we all just faking it until we make it? Aren’t we all stepping out the house with a smile on our face and a determined sense of confidence that ensures that we, IN FACT, have everything under control? Meanwhile, our cars look like the dump, laundry piled for days, dirty dishes hidden in bathtubs when company comes over, our kids eating cereal for dinner,  and us going to bed forgetting to shower. I mean really, I could go on for days.  But let’s be...

I’m a full-time mom. A full-time wife. A full-time friend. Sister. Sister-in-law. Cousin. Daughter. Daughter-in-law. Co-worker. The list goes on. It’s a lot of hats to wear, especially when you aren’t able to take one off. I don’t always feel the weight of everything I do, but sometimes, it hits me like a ton of bricks. And usually, it’s in the form of guilt. How did I miss a good friend’s birthday? Am I absent in my sibling’s lives and is it my fault? Did I really need to yell when my daughter spilled her milk?  Guilt. It creeps in every day and in every form. Sometimes small and sometimes big, but it’s always there in some form or fashion. It’s something that...