YES, YOU CAN DO BOTH

HEY, EVERYONE! IT’S MONDAY!

1. I’m going to bet that almost every single one of you woke up this morning with some insecurity bearing down on you… goodness knows I wake up fighting that battle almost every single day. Those things that play over and over again like a broken record in our minds… I’m doing this parenting thing all wrong. I’ve gained a few pounds the last couple of months because: LIFE – so obviously everyone is going to notice and I can’t stand myself. I need to apologize for everything+take the blame for everything+make sure everyone in existence is ok except for me. I have to accept being mistreated and used because that’s just what we do to survive. Well let me just pull that crap right off your shoulders. You are a beautiful, capable, strong, worthy addition to the earth. You deserve to take care of yourself while you love selflessly on your people (YES, you can do both) You deserve to give yourself a break with the body image hamster wheel. Take care of yourself but chill out with the negative self-talk. {I can guarantee that everyone else thinks you are gorgeous… and when they tell you that you are, BELIEVE THEM}

2. Let’s talk about REAL LIFE. My instagram account would have you believe that my life is all perfectly executed food and kids+dogs that are beautiful and successfully acclimated to life. But the reality is that right now I have FIVE laundry baskets covering my bedroom floor that I haven’t gotten to… Luna Babe hair all over my kitchen floor… Girlie got out of the car at school today with two pigtails that she did herself that were: {good lord, I couldn’t look} and holes in her pants… Real life is messy and chaotic and PERFECT. If you’re striving for your real life to mirror Pinterest or some other person’s social media facade them just stop it. Stop it right now.

3. Now… hear me. Even with all of this talk about giving yourself a break and positive thoughts and paying attention to your needs… that is NOT a pass to shirk our responsibilities as nurturers, friends, givers, lovers, forgivers… I think that giving attention to these things IS part of taking care of ourselves. When you sow love, you reap love. So give lavishly and watch your life unfold into a perfectly chaotic mess of beautiful things.

I sure do love you all! (especially YOU!)

-Abs