Get Real!

We all have a story.  And it is up to us who we share that story with.  Not too many people know that there was a time during the infertility struggle that I almost gave up the blog.  Although I loved writing to help me process events and put a label on my emotions, there was also a big downside to it.  I felt like I was in a one way relationship with almost everyone I knew.  I felt like I was giving so much of myself and not really getting much in return.  Obviously, I thought the free therapy was worth it to power through.  And I knew there were other people who could benefit from our story.

I feel like far too many of us keep our stories to ourselves, when they do no one any good under lock and key.  I've learned a lot by keeping this blog.  And I'm not saying you have to be as public with your story as a blog.  But you need to be real with someone.  We are all far too busy trying to keep up with the Joneses, when in reality we don't REALLY know the Joneses.  Sure, their kids behave well in public, but maybe their marriage is falling apart.  No one is perfect.  But we go out of our way to make other people think we have it all together.  We compare ourselves to others, but we only see the parts of those other people that they are willing to share.

With all of the recent changes going on in our household, I thought about how those changes would affect everyone in our household but myself.  For some reason, I thought that the changes wouldn't affect me until we actually moved.  Boy was I wrong!  And then I started comparing myself to others.  It took a good shift of perspective to see that I needed to decide what was most important to me and make those items a priority and forget the rest.  So you are warned, after stretching myself way to thin over the holidays, I've decided that a little dog hair never killed anyone.  If my people are fed, bathed, clothed and where they need to be when they need to be there, that is a successful day!  You are unique and you know what works best for you.  So stop comparing yourself to others, be real with others and share your story with someone.  It will be therapeutic for you and bless others as well.