It has come to my attention recently, in a bigger way then ever before, how important it is to just be yourself and follow your passion(s). I’ve listened to all the hype about just being yourself and got it but never really took the time to live it.
We celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day – Pie, Donut, Repeat, Thanksgiving and so many more and most (or all, depending on who you ask) have their right to be celebrated but we’re missing out on the most important one of all…
The people I admire most are those who don’t have excuses. The mother’s who love being a mom, love their children immensely, and continue to be who they always knew they were. The father’s who live through passion and pass along their likes to their children through actions instead of words, the are everyday heroes in my eyes.
When I became a mom over six years ago I didn’t stop following my dream of being a writer/ author/ exception to the rule. I even finished my first novel (Arm Farm) on maternity leave despite the laughs I had about the idea. I’ve since published a couple of more books but it’s been a struggle.
Becoming a mom is the greatest thing that ever happened to me, bar none. Throughout the struggles of learning with my child while balancing everything else it was definitely worth it.
Yet I keep using that as an excuse. “I have no time during the day.” (I homeschool him.) “I work at night.” (Opposite my husband to avoid day care.) “I’m exhausted, unfocused, the house is a mess, I have to get up early…” The list is always there and continuously growing but I’m more than a cleaner or an excuse. Wonderful parents everywhere are balancing it all and thriving!
My mentors, even if they don’t know it, are the men and women who are being true to themselves. I don’t care about their pay cheque or overdue bills, their methods for getting time alone or their shortcuts. I admire that they prioritize who they are and what actions they take to show their kids that they are people, too.
Teaching my son the other day to skip rope I found one for me and showed him a few tricks (nothing fancy, just straight forward skipping rope) and he was amazed. He wondered how I so quickly learned how to do that right before his eyes. In that moment it dawned on me – he doesn’t know who I was before he was born, not that I skipped too much before that.
We are a brand new person to our children, to each person we meet for the first time. It would take more effort to change for each one, to present a different skill set or interest level every time we said hello and yet a lot of us do. Sharing on tiny bits of who we think they would want us to be instead of who we are at just that moment.
Save time today by taking time to figure out who you are right now as a person and share that with the world. No one expects you to be anything you’re not, we all want truth and authenticity and if we don’t gel, so be it. We’ll have more time to find others who like us when we don’t spend so much time and effort changing to make everyone like us.
So please go forth today and feel a little more inside and share that with the world – for all of our sakes.
Thanks for reading and being,
Sarah Butland
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