Finding Happiness In Life’s Messes
This post has been sponsored by Brawny® and the new Stay Giant TM campaign, to feature thoughts from Super Mom’s who may not be perfect, but know that even through life’s occasional messes, trying their hardest is all that matters!
Life can be a mess, you guys.
Figuratively and literally.
I’ll admit – I’m sort of a control freak when it comes to my home and it’s cleanliness level. I LOVE a clean house and space. It makes me feel relaxed, calm and creative. When my surroundings are cluttered or dirty, I honestly just can’t handle it.
Over the years it’s sort of become a setback for me, because I end up sweating over “the little things” instead of looking at the big picture. I’ve realized that this is definitely NOT good when you’re trying to be productive, grateful and overall HAPPY everyday.
This Summer, after making the huge transition from being a working-outside-of-the-house Mom, to a 100% stay-at-home Mom, I’ve had a complete shift in stress level (it’s pretty much zero now), and in turn have also really tried to hone in on chilling out when it comes to my house, and messes that my kids make each day.
Instead of running behind them all Summer picking things up constantly and being annoyed with the fact that I had JUST tidied up that certain spot 5 minutes before – which truth be told, I still tend to do out of habit – I will now try to stop, laugh, cuddle or play along with them.
Don’t get me wrong, I was ready to break up with Summer because my kids have been chomping at the bit for more mental stimulation than apparently I can give them… but that doesn’t mean I won’t miss the snot out of those messy little faces, that randomly decide eating dessert without hands like a cat is super awesome and something they just HAVE to do, or they’ll “die!”
** insert eye roll here **
I wrote some quick thoughts down a few weeks ago on Instagram, after a visit to beautiful Mirror Lake here in Utah with the family, and I just have to share them here too for those of you who may have missed them —
“Today while walking around Mirror Lake, ironically I took a lot of time to reflect and think about happiness. What I consider MY happy, and how I can improve my life each day to keep moving towards happy moments (personally & mentally), instead of letting myself drift to ones that well… aren’t. And more importantly, shifting my appreciation for the little things in life from “oh yeah… I do, have and notice that”, to “WOAH! I get to DO that!? I’m so lucky I HAVE this, and I’m so blessed to be SURROUNDED BY all of it!”
It’s amazing to me how no ONE person can really define happiness for anyone else – it’s such a personal journey; one that I think a lot of us take WAY too much time pursuing… when ironically it’s usually right here in front of us all along.
Today I’ve reminded myself how happy I am. How lucky, blessed, talented and loved I am in THIS moment. How while money, status, cleanliness and order HELPS my happiness, it definitely doesn’t define it. Healthy kids, a freakin’ amazing husband and realization that the world is so much bigger than just ME and my worries or problems, makes my idea of happiness oh-so-much easier to grasp.
I hope and pray that YOU are finding happiness in the right places and people – because let me tell ya, it makes the world of difference.”
This is it you guys.
We’ve got ONE life. And it gets messy… sometimes REALLY messy.
But I’m learning to be okay with it; because those crazy messes, as much as I hate them in the moment, tend to bring with them, the BEST memories.
When I’m busy making dinner, trying to text the hubby about what time he’s going be home, shoo the dog away from licking up the stuck-on nasties from the silverware in the open, dirty dishwasher I’m attempting to load; and then have one kid yelling at me from the living room to watch their latest dance move, while another is begging at my side to help me pour, stir, shake or chop up an ingredient for supper… I start wishing that I had Super Mom cloning powers, so I could give everyone and everything the attention they deserve and need – but usually I just end up yell-singing something like – “I’M ONLY ONE MOM, everyone stop talking to me at the same tiiiiiime!”
P.S. – Yell-singing is a great way to get everyones attention by yelling what you want to say, but then making it melodic at the same time so nobody feels like you’re screaming at them personally. LOL. It’s really a great thing. You should most definitely try it the next time you feel crazy.
On the other hand it may make you look crazier, but sometimes that gets even more attention from everyone, resulting in silence and confused stares. Either way, it’s a win-win.
forced nap time this Summer when I felt like I was going to lose it
I don’t have all answers, time or energy to keep up with everyone and everything, but you better believe that I still consider myself a Super Mom.
At the end of the day if I feel accomplished, that’s all that matters. Sometimes that means finishing laundry, making every bed, polishing fingerprints from my refrigerator and making a home cooked meal before the hubby gets home… and other days it’s simply knowing that my kids didn’t pass out from starvation, or go completely brain dead from binge watching one of their absolutely ridiculous teeny-bopper shows all day.
I know that I’m doing the BEST with what I’ve got, and that’s all I can ask of myself. So when life gets messy, or feels less than perfect in my eyes, I just have to remember that I’m not in this alone. I have an amazing husband, awesome friends and the best cleaning supplies (like Brawny® paper towels) to help me get through even the toughest and messiest of days.
Come read about how other Mom’s are finding and sharing Super Mom moments in their lives!
Compensation for this post was provided by Brawny® via AOL Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Brawny® or AOL.
Ruth says
I liked the picture of the "cat" who ate dessert off the plate. One night I was serving dinner, and the four (or was it five?) kids who were still living at home decided they were tired of setting the table and would much prefer eating right off the table. So I said ok. And they each dished out their helping of chili onto the table and then bent over and licked it up. ALL of them did this. I took pictures, of course.
And sometimes it is much easier to have 'clean-up time' right before bedtime so no one can mess it all up and it will be clean in the morning. Good Luck!!