I grew up wanting to do everything. Play every sport, join every club, chair every event, volunteer for everything, etc. This mindset of I can do everything literally started at age 7 when I left dance class and went to my flag football practice right after.
Still, to this day, I am the yes girl. I’ll lend a hand, start that committee, and attend this event. I cannot seem to drop the mindset of needing to do it all.
Becoming a mom only seemed to intensify this desire. We live in a world where moms seem to do it all. From cooking to cleaning to chauffeuring to breadwinning. Women do it all.
But I can tell you when you are “doing it all,” you’re falling short somewhere.
Every once in a while, I’ll notice I’m spread too thin and give up something …. only to take on something else a month or two later.
Have you ever sat down and thought about what fills your bucket? What takes up your time that really satisfies you? What takes up time that makes you fall short elsewhere?
It’s time to clear your plate. No, don’t go quit everything you do and refuse to drive your kids to all their sports and classes and lessons.
Just sit down and take a piece of paper and really write down every single thing that takes up space in your mind and life.
I did this and BY GOLLY it became so clear to me why I am weeks behind on laundry and cannot tell you the last time I made a home-cooked meal.
My plate was full of tasks that do not match my goals. If my goal is to be the best mom and best wife I can be, then charging 4 committees and volunteering for things that do not serve my family just do not make sense in my life at this time.
So, instead of removing a few things, I removed everything.
I quit it all. I drew up an empty plate for myself. I am fortunate that in this stage in life, I have been able to quit my job.
So. With a completely empty plate in this new season of life, I set goals.
I want to be the best mom I can be.
I want to be the best wife I can be.
I want to be the best Catholic I can be.
So from here, I will go about filling my plate with only tasks that help me meet my goals!
Moms. There is no prize, reward, trophy, or even bragging rights for doing it all. We are not here on this earth to spread ourselves so thin that what we do loses value and meaning.
We are here to do good. To do good will look different for everyone. It may look different as your seasons of life change.
My goal for you is to do good by yourself. To find tasks that help you meet your goals and fill your bucket.
