I recently heard the phrase: Stress is the new cigarette.
It took me a minute to really process that. Stress looks so cool. To hustle and grind and do all the things, all the time. To be "that mom" who's always got it all going on. It looks cool, until you're trying to do it all and you realize how gross it makes you feel to have no time to yourself, no white space, no quiet moments to actually connect with our kids.
Stress looks cool on the outside, until you learn what it's doing to your insides.
Chasing stress distracts us from our real purposes. We're not made to do all things, we're made to do what we're made to do. I see this with Slay at Home Mamas, trying to prioritize a clean and organized house, but our purpose is to raise them and to connect with them. We're meant to have a relationship with our kids, not to yell at them for the socks left on the floor, again.
We're meant to be the kind of person our kids want to listen to. Not to be the nag who acts like the house is more important than they are. Your perfect home (or idea of one) is a distraction.
You can be the mom who brings a bag of chips to the potluck, but has kids who are excited to go with her. Be the "fun" mom. Show up for your kids in whatever way you are called to show up for them. Your idea of successful parenting isn't going to match up with everyone else.
Keep your mindset in check. Don't let the little things become the big things. Limit distractions that are just stress for you. Check that everything you own, is serving you, not the other way around. If you're a slave to your things, you're going to be miserable (not to mention, that's kind of idol worship.... and I hear most people are trying to avoid that).
"All stress begins with one negative thought. One thoughts that went unchecked, and then more thoughts came and more, until stress manifested. The effect is stress, but the cause was negative thinking, and it all began with one little negative thought. No matter what you might have manifests, you can change it... with one small positive thought and then another." - Rhonda Byrne
Where's the root of stress coming from? It's not coming from the things you are stressed about - the dishes aren't yelling at you to come do them, they are morally neutral. Dishes have no meaning, you decide the meaning of a dirty dish in your home.
Overcoming Negative Thinking (straight from The Happy Mom Brain).
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