What were you thinking?  You should take better care of yourself!
You are never going to get caught up. Will you ever have enough time?   These are the thoughts running through my mind as I try to talk myself out of a week that feels like nothing but failure.

Failure

Failure is different for different people.  Major failure to me is when I let others down. I can’t stand that feeling.  This week I let some people down. Family, friends, co-workers. You name it, I feel like I did it.  When I start to think about each situation it all snowballs together into feeling like one giant failure. One thing rolls into another and into another and then it’s all packed together into one big ball and all I see is a ton of failure for me and others left feeling let down or disappointed.

The Snowball

Has this happened to you?  Have you had days where you struggle to step back and see the big picture because it seems like everything just snowballs together into one big failure?  I trapped myself in the snowball cycle this week.

I was actually sick this week. In fact I still don’t feel 100%. It made the days hard. And for the first time in a long time, the sleep stories I listen to at night didn’t put me to bed and I started waking up in the middle of the night with a racing mind.  I let fear in and lost perspective. When it all snowballs together like this I know it is time to talk it out with one of my best friends.

Why is that what I chose to do?  It’s because my best friends know me well. They listen, console, and help me move through tough situations.  They reassure me that I am human and that everyone makes mistakes. That everyone gets sick.  They remind me of my character, who I am, and how to learn from my mistakes and grow while holding me accountable to being my best self.   I was lucky enough to have a good friend do this for me this week. And for her, I am so eternally grateful.

The thing is, I would do the exact same for her.  We have accountability for each other.  We don’t simply excuse everything for each other, but we figure out how to move through situations together, own them, learn from them and grow.  We treat each other with compassion, kindness, and support.

But why can’t I do it for myself?

You see, I can.  But I forget. I am hard on myself.  When I started the 52 Weeks of Wonder Challenge I did not choose this challenge for this week.  It looks like it chose me. I needed the reminder that I need to treat myself with as much kindness as I would my best friend.

Nothing terrible happened this week.  I had to ask my kids to help take care of me when I was sick.  My pride was hurt a few times. My follow through was lacking. I missed a family event.  Not at all earth-shattering, but snowballing together, it felt so big.

Now let’s retell the story as my best friend would tell it.

My best friend’s version is through a lens of self-love and gratitude.  Although I was sick, I was lucky enough to have my kids have big enough hearts that they stood up to take care of me while my husband was gone.  A little note, cough drops, offering to take my temperature, and crackers at my disposal. I even got tucked in:)

I fell behind at work. However, I have a fantastic staff who are understanding and supportive.  They let me reschedule and asked how I was when I returned. I was worn out at night when I really wanted energy for my kids.  They cuddled with me and understood.

Treat yourself like you would treat your best friend.

We all need it at different times.  This week was mine. When I stop to look at it through a lens of gratitude, I can see mistakes and let downs as lessons to slow down and take care of myself. This is self-love.   Thanks to one of my best friends who helped me remember self-love and flexibility this week.

The Silver Lining

If you have been following my 52 Weeks of Wonder Challenge you know that I am working on taking action on all the things I have wondered about. A lot of this focus has been on simplifying, minimizing and setting up processes for my family.

This week I didn’t trip on any shoes thanks to the mudroom challenge.

I didn’t get stressed out about what to wear thanks to my capsule wardrobe challenge.

My drop zone had on it only a planner that had our week organized with meals plans thanks to my drop zone challenge.  Also, I had all the groceries for the week which meant planning dinner was one more thing I didn’t need to think about.

The challenges of minimizing and organizing are reducing obstacles and the feeling of overwhelm in my life.  My big wonder when I started all of this was if I started to take actions on all the things I have always wondered about if it would improve my life.  Well, I am 12 weeks in and I can confidently say yes, it is helping improve my life dramatically!

If you would like to stay updated on the challenges you can sign up for my Newsletter and free wonder workbook here. The workbook can help you discover what it is you really wonder about and would like to take action on!

My personal challenge to you this week is to treat yourself like your best friend would treat you. And I also encourage you to reach out to him/her and say thank you.