Do You Let Your Struggles Define You? #Redefineyourstory

Life is full of frustrating and debilitating moments. We have days, weeks, even entire seasons where we feel completely overwhelmed with life and run on survival mode. Its easy to let these moments define us, define who we are and where we have been. In many ways it gives us something to hold on to when we find others going through the same thing. And then out of nowhere, the smallest thing brings us back to reality. It’s the little things that remind us why we do this and that everything is going to be okay.

As many of you know, we have struggled a lot lately. From huge sensory meltdowns to mommy meltdowns, it hasn’t been pretty around here. If you are a regular around here, you also know just how much I want to be real with you and let you know you are not alone!

However, sometimes I worry a tad that I am not providing you with support for finding the beauty in life. Honestly, there are days I struggle with finding the beauty in life and in mothering a child with so many struggles. On a normal day, I want to punch people in the throat when they say “it will get better” or “it won’t always be like this”. I wan’t to say… sure, maybe for you.

But, that’s not helpful. Is it?

Today, I got away. I woke up early, left the house and planted myself in a nearby coffee shop. I shut off the world I live in day to day and entered my creative space. I started working early this morning and honestly started to forget about my survival mode and the yelling that was probably happening at home.

Then something beautiful happened.

Mr. Lemon wrote to say “its a bucket of cuteness around here”. Super B (22 months old) is reading Bad Kitty to herself, Bones is drawing on the sidewalk, and Legoman has set up a store outside and is selling dog statues. Bones was his first customer.

I lit up. I needed this. I needed to see life working. I needed to see my children smiling and enjoying life.

Then it got even better. Mr. Lemon sent me these images and it actually brought tears to my eyes. This is what childhood is. This is what I need to remember!

“This is Mommy with Beeps inside her.” 

More than anything, I needed to stop, take a moment to soak it in and write it down so I don’t forget! These are the moments that I need to remember when my days are rough. These are the small things that matter! These small moments are what it’s all about! If I string these small moments together, it might actually resemble a life that makes me proud to be a mommy.

So I am going to do just that! Starting today, I am vowing to make a journal where I write just one line a day. One thing that made me smile. It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to be earth shattering. My hope is that when I stream them together, it will resemble a story I WANT TO READ! It will be the story of our life! It won’t replace the struggles. I know those will still happen. However, my hope is that it shifts the way I view our family and the things I focus on.

Are you with me?

Who’s up for a challenge? I found this journal the other day and I knew I wanted to save it for something like this but never got it started. To me, journals can be overwhelming. Daily entries get started then I forget to do them. That’s why I thought. Hey, I can write 1 sentence. I can take 1 picture. I can do this. I can find joy in the small things.

I can redefine my story. So that’s what I am going to do. Starting today, I will write one sentence a day in my journal. If I miss a day, that’s okay. This isn’t about guilt. It’s about what this book will read like in the end. A book of small moments worth remembering. Today its easy to find that moment. Tomorrow might not be so easy, but together we can do this!

You can share on Twitter or Instagram : #redefineyourstory

Let’s start a movement!!!!!