What June Taught Me.

To let the good moments overwhelm you. || Last Friday, Jack was with his nanny and it was the first moment I’ve had to myself in a hot minute. I had the pool completely to myself, and the water was the absolute perfect temperature. The sun was out, there was a breeze, it was just beautiful. And for a second, it completely overwhelmed me. Like, wow, how beautiful is this day? And I really want that to happen more. I’m the type to get overwhelmed by the bad things, so I want to be overwhelemed by the good things, too. I want to give them just as much attention and brain space and power over my day and attitude. 

Sometimes you have to balance physical health and mental health. || The last year or so, I’ve gotten into a really good groove with working out. It’s been amazing for me, and I feel so much better for it. But. The last two-ish weeks have been super stressful. I had probably the craziest work week I’ve ever had, things at home were super busy, and overall my stress level was just super high. Nothing terrible, but enough that working out fell to the wayside. 

Now, longterm, that’s not okay for me. Working out is a huge stress reliever. But short term, you only get so many hours in a day, and sometimes there are things you have to do, and going for a run isn’t one of them. 

Anyway, all that to say that this month taught me to recognize that sometimes, you’ve just got to power through and be okay with not getting everything you’d like to get done. Most days, going for a run is the best for me. But some days, going for a run may be the added thing on my to-do list that pushes me right over the edge of insanity. And, most importantly, to not feel guilty about it. 

When the big picture is overwhelming, focus on the little things you can do. || Speaking of overwhelm, things certainly seem that way, don’t they? The news (and honestly the general state of things) has been truly, truly depressing. The children being separated from their parents this month gutted me. It seemed like such a giant situation-how did we get here? What’s there to do about it? I’m thankful for trustworthy friends who shared small, actionable things. Donate here. Call them. Do this. 

That’s a big example, but the same is true in day-to-day life. I was really overwhelemed with work last week, and it helped me immensely to look at what I was responsible for and say, what can I do right now? When I think about how residency is ten billion years long and it feels like I’m gonna be solo-parenting until Jack graduates college, I think how can I make this day really good? Not tomorrow, or next year, but this day. Breaking it down into bite-sized pieces is so, so helpful. 

What did this month teach you?