Let yourself off the hook!

            Picture this scenario.  I hear the alarm, but not really.  Not being a very good morning person, I hit the snooze button.  All of the sudden, 30 minutes later, I jump up!  I have overslept and everyone is late!  This is how way too many mornings go in our house!  In spite of being late, I somehow manage to get everyone to High School, Junior High,  and Elementary school on time.  The door shuts and I am engulfed in the silence of my empty house.  And I am left with the beginnings of judgements that I have begun to pile on myself for the day.  I should have gone to bed earlier, I should have woken up.  I should have given them more time, etc, etc, etc.  And so it begins.....
             I wander into the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror.  But I don't see the Mom who stayed up until late helping my son get his term project done for the thousandth time, or the Mom who made lunch for the kids before they left, signed their planners and gave them their meds, who made sure to do the I love you sign language for my autistic son, because it makes him feel secure and ready to leave with carpool.  I made sure all four boys got a hug before he walked out the door.  But that is not what I see.  I see a Mom who made everyone late because she hit snooze and couldn't get up. The girl, who, no matter how much time she has, just can't seem to get all of her stuff done.  I see all of my shortcomings and the day is just beginning.

             Since when did we start to be so hard on ourselves?  From a very early age, I think most of us can remember seeing and hearing Moms, sisters, or friends, who fell short and made mistakes, for one reason or another.  And always it was accompanied by gossip of another girl judging them.  It was then that we thought, "There is no way I am EVER going to do that!?  I will never make those mistakes."  But then, as is normal, you make a mistake.  And you remember a previous instance where a person you know was judged for doing exactly what you just did.  And you judge yourself! You heap all of that judgement and weight on your back for making a mistake.  It builds up over time as we make more and more mistakes, some little and some not so little.  It adds to the stress of our lives and continues to make us feel inadequate, no matter what we do right.  At some point, the madness has to stop! 
             We need to let ourselves off the hook!  We need to look in the mirror and see all the good things we are.  And know that in spite of our worst mistake, we have so much value!  Life is about making mistakes and learning from them.  Instead of letting them pile up and make us feel totally worthless, we need to help each other to get rid of that burden. Once we have been able to get out from under all of that, we can be so happy!  I challenge anyone who is reading this blog to find ways to tell the women in your life the things they are doing right and that you are impressed with!  Let them know how much you admire them and tell them you love them!  We are hard enough on ourselves and hearing those things that we do well from an outside source can be just what we need to shake off all of those judgments and be the women we were meant to be!