Life...It's freakin hard!

Good afternoon everyone!

Man, it's been a long time. Life gets busy, you know? And sometimes that busy-ness is, well, sucky.

I'm going to be real with you right now.
Married life is HARD.
Parent life is HARD.
Add the two together? It is the most difficult, beautiful, frustrating, gratifying thing ever.

It's especially difficult when all you see are the happy snips of life people post online ALL. THE. TIME.
And, come on, we ALL know no one's life is that perfect. But we fall for the trap of comparison anyways. Why is that? Why can't we all be real with each other? I'm sure I've written about this before, but it is something I feel needs continuous attention. Maybe, just maybe, if everyone can really grasp that what we see of people's lives online isn't a full reality, we can stop comparing and stop feeling like crap about ourselves.

And then maybe we can start feeling comfortable being REAL with each other. (I'm not telling you to air all your dirty laundry on social media either. I'm just asking you to stop acting like everything is picture perfect in your household.)

Now, here's the biggie. In order for us to be real with each other, we have to be real with ourselves (gasp!). We need to figure out who we are and be that person. You aren't just a mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, daughter, son. You are a HUMAN BEING with a sense of self. Who you are is NOT defined by your relationships to other people.

Mothers, I'm talking to you specifically now. I know I'm guilty of this, I get so caught up in being "mom" that I forget how to be myself. I forget to do what I enjoy, and eventually can't even remember what I enjoy doing! Let's try to stop falling into this trap. Yes, your role as "mom" is so very important. But you can't be your best mom-self if you can't remember how to be your self-self.

After falling into this trap myself, I've had to rediscover what I enjoy doing.

Some things are still the same from when I was younger:
Reading
Singing
Dancing
Coloring (anyone wanna have an adult coloring party sometime?)

Some things are new to my adult life:
Yoga
Baking goodies
Some video games
Wine (can I get a heck yeah?!)

Now, my new trap that I'm falling into is that of not being fully present with my loved ones. Even if I'm doing nothing else, my mind drifts when I'm with them. It's part of what has me scared to take care of myself. I start thinking I won't want to come back from my sense of peace from yoga, or whatever world I've immersed (finally just learned how to spell that word) myself in.

However, I wonder if I take the time to truly enjoy myself in some of these things, would I be able to start being fully present? If I allow myself to drift away into what I love, will I be able to concentrate more in this world?

Has anyone else ever had this conundrum? Or am I going crazy?

So I ask you all...

How do you find balance in your life? How do you juggle all your hats without losing your sense of self? How do you find the motivation you need to get even half of your to-do list done in a day?

Please, share your answers with me. I would love to hear them.

Much love to you all.

And to give a bright end to a solemn post, here's two pictures of my silly toddler.