You feel like you are failing… but you’re not. Here’s why…

© Galina Barskaya | Dreamstime Stock Photos

My first coaching client…. Was me.

I am a wife.

          I’ve been married for 15 years through some major ups and downs for both of us. There were periods, especially in the first 6 years where I thought our marriage wasn’t going to make it. It is still hard sometimes when we can’t see eye to eye about the kids, or the bills, or the house, etc. etc. We get so caught up in our responsibility to our work, the kids, and our families that we can lose track of each other. We forget to make each other a priority. Does that sound familiar?

I am a mom.

          I have two kids and it has been hard to balance their needs and my own. If I hadn’t already been pregnant when we started potty training my son I might have called it quits, it was torture! My children are me in miniature in all the most difficult ways (and the best ways). I love them to bits, but it is so hard some days to be patient and loving. Those days when they take 45 minutes to get dressed for school and we are all late. Those days when it takes 2 hours to do 20 minutes of homework because of all the whining. Those days when neither child wants the meal I just spend an hour cooking. Yeah, those days when you want to hand them to Daddy and go to the spa! Can you relate?

I have goals for myself, outside of my family.

           I went back to school to finish my bachelor’s degree when my son was 2 years old. I took a year off to have my daughter. I finally graduated after 6 years. I went back to school to get my master’s degree and then I started my own business. I am so proud of myself for setting those goals and making them a reality while still making my family a priority. But… sometimes when I hear stories of what other moms are doing (moms who are working full time, while getting a PhD, raising 2.5 kids, with an immaculate house, and homemade organic meals from vegetables they grew themselves) I feel like I am failing.

Do you judge yourself?

          I think we all feel that way sometimes, including the “super mom” you are comparing yourself to. We feel like we aren’t doing enough, or being enough. We feel guilty when we take time for ourselves. We are often exhausted, stressed out, and at the end of our rope.

So here is what I have learned….

          So here is what I have learned from being all those things, from my personal experience, my education and training, and from working with other women just like me and you.

~ You are enough.

~ Let me say that again, it bears repeating. You Are Enough.

~ It will get better, I promise.

~ You are doing your best every day and it is enough.

~ Other women are not a yardstick to measure your success or failure. They are your sisters-in-arms and your loudest cheerleaders.

~ When you fail, you get back up and teach your kids the best lesson: perseverance in the face of defeat.

~ Taking care of you makes it possible for you to take care of everyone else.

Wishing you the best,
Angela