Ironically I was invited (by two women I adore) to join a group last month. Now, I know that this goes against my desire to not be associated with any one clique or group but after much thought I decided that to decline this invitation would be declining the opportunity to improve my family life and mothering abilities. And so, with this thought in mind I went to my first group meeting since Girl Scouts and Leadership in high school (we just won't mention exactly how long ago that was). Guess what...?...I did not die and to the contrary I actually enjoyed myself.
We are a Learning Circle of the larger group under the direction of The Power of Moms. We are given an article that has questions and topic discussions and we meet once a month to talk about it all and learn from each other. So along with my whole accountability need, I am going to, monthly answer the questions and tell you all what I am going to work on. I will not be sharing the article or questions as I think that is a breach in the copyright, but if you are interested you may follow the links I have provided or find some cool articles and just do it all on your own (I knew I would never actually do it or find the time to do it so this is my option). Any ideas and suggestions from you would be loved as always.
(1) My gauge of success right now is the following: my children are fed, alive, and semi happy at the end of the day, my hubbie is likewise fed and happy, I have taken a shower, cleaned something in my house, ate, and am semi happy as well. Small and pety...?...perhaspe but doable and attained! As life success I want my family to have a knowledge and love of The Gospel of Jesus Christ and I want us to follow the commandments of God. I want to maintain a happy and healthy marriage. Like wise I want us to be a loving and caring family. Success means that we have a dwelling to live in and enough food on the table for us to survive and enjoy. I think that if when I die these things have been fulfilled to best of my ability then I have had a successful life.
(2) I am not a victim and have never really felt like one. I know that I have chosen to be a mother and although I did not fully understand all that I was saying yes to, I in no way regret my decision. My problem then, is not feeling like a victim to the life I am leading but trying not to react to influences that are beyond my control. I am a stubborn fighter and I know it. I need to learn to control those urges when 'things' happen and let somethings go.
(3) Unrealistic expectations are a disease of self-confidence. I have three children 5 and under, for me this can be a lot at times. Here are my top 5 unrealistic expectations that I place on myself pretty regularly (in black) and a more realistic version (in red).
a) my children will behave and not complain while doing chores: accomplish 3 chores per day regardless
b) I can start and finish an art project (of any variety) to the level of wonderfulness that I want it to be on any given day that I feel so inspired (which is almost daily - note the problem?): limit myself to 1 project per week
c) I should go to bed every night feeling amazingly happy : write in my Gratitude book every night after reading Scriptures
d) we should have enough money for the essentials and the fun we want to have: ?
e) I should lose 35 pounds to get back to my marriage weight: lose 1-5 pounds per month by limiting the number of cokes I drink and working out more
(4) I need more gratitude in my life. The more that I give thanks the more I find to give thanks for. This is one of my focuses this month.
(5) So this question is about in what areas of your life can you be less than perfect or be satisfied with mediocrity, I don't think I have a problem here. I made a New Years Resolution two years ago that I would spend more time playing on the floor with my girls than I would cleaning it. Wow, that was a great resolution that I have continued to live. I think I could let go of others perception on me and the 'awards' (good or bad) that I feel those should bring. I want to be satisfied with being mediocre to the world and fabulous to my family.
(6) I want to become Fulfilled by my life.
I want to become more Intelligent in the Holistic atmosphere of life.
I want to become more Active.
(7) My voices need to stop telling me that I look like a mom who has given up on herself for the benefit of her family, because in reality it does not benefit them at all. My mood and attitude have a huge impact on my family and the life that we lead, if it sucks then I should not be surprised that my family 'life' feels sucky too! My voices need to stop telling me that I need recognition from the world to feel important and desirable (in many areas of my life, not sexually). My voices need to stop telling me that we will not make it out of our money crunch. We are following the counsel of our living Prophet and the Spirit and working our tails off to be debt free (school, work, house, and stupid stuff!) and that is a good thing. Yes, it is awful and hard and drags us down but, in the end we will be liberated by our success!
(8) Funny, it's been about an hour and I can still not think of something that I will cut out or not do this month. I have been purging myself of 'things' as of late and so I feel that need has been meet.
(9) This month I will spend some money on an activity for Gary & I to do together. We 'date' with our favorite show and a homemade milkshake from time to time but we need to really go out and have a night where we can talk and relax and play for longer than an hour.
So there it is. I'll post a "Power of Moms" monthly.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Paint Fumes...
Okay so it has been a few days?....weeks?...the sad part is I can't even remember so that is the first indication that I have been ignoring myself. I have. We currently have our house up on the market and that means that someone had to get it ready to go on the market. Yeah, why beat the issue dead, it was me, with the help of Han Solo and his dear parents who helped with child care, physical labor, and a lot of storage. We painted almost every surface of our house and I still have the baseboards to go. I never thought our house was ridiculously small - it is actually a very nice house and we could live here forever and sacrifice our want for acreage to live a good life here, alas we must move for work and so will move from here to an apartment to save more money to get the house and the land we want. Very little comes from wishing on a star, we know.
So an update, I have not lost any more weight this month, but as my mom pointed out I have maintained. I slacked on my vitamins of D3 & Omega3 and I could really tell, which is a good thing because that means that they are doing their job (happy to say it was easy to get back on track with those). The best part of all this was the meditation that I was able to do while painting. Kind of like my revelation in the shower (which started all this) I came to some conclusions which has really benefited me.
There is a group of ladies that I am acquainted with who have a particular knack for excluding others from their little adventures but then talking about how wonderful they were and how great of friends they all are, while you (being one of many not included) are sitting with and group of them. I have tried to ignore this, I have tried to comment (thinking that was what they wanted and it would help move the conversation to a more even playing field - it was not very successful), and then I finally tried the avoidance method, as I think many others are doing. Well this has worked the best. I enjoy these women one-on-one they are young, beautiful, intelligent and delightful ladies in their own way and on their own, but something happens when they form a group around themselves. They have the ability to transfer you emotions and thoughts back to high school when your clothes mattered, your hair style mattered, the car you drove, the boy you clung to. They transport you here and make you feel like the unpopular kid you either once were or swore you never would be. This is why I avoid them as a group, I don't want to go there and I like my thoughts to be on how I am doing good as a mother, my hubbie still loves me and although he has lost all his hair he is sexy and provides for me and my girls emotionally, temporally, spiritually and in every other way I can think of. I don't' have a lot of great clothes but my car is perfect for my family and we a have a beautiful home.
The one thing I don't get a lot, that they seem too, is the "girl time". I think this is where the problem and solution lie. I would love to be able to go out once a week with girl friends and get a coke at a fav restaurant or just watch a great chick flick and eat ice cream...but...(1) I am married to an amazing man and I am the mother to amazing girls I want to be with them too. (2) I only have my hubbie around 2 nights during the week and Saturday is a family day and Sunday we devote to Church and family. (3) I want to use money as an excuse, because we don't have tons, but really I would use it on something else any way so its not really a huge factor here. Really I guess it is that, is girl time worth more to me than family time...NO. Easy but at times it still hurts. So here is my conclusion. I got my girls time in college, I played a lot, I dated a lot, I stayed up late at night with my roommates and watched chick flicks and ate ice cream, we went shopping together and went on mini vacations, we cried and laughed and got all that bonding done. These girls went about this a different way, some went to college, some didn't, they all married young and had children relatively fast (of course there are exceptions to ever rule but these are my generalizations). Point being they did not get their girls time in college before marring and starting families. Now they are trying to capture that. To find out who they are together as a group, to get that acceptance that they need and to form friendships with their children.
Well here is my new perspective: GOOD FOR THEM. GO HAVE YOUR GIRL FUN. ENJOY IT! I LOVED MINE AND I MADE AMAZING LIFE LONG FRIENDS, AND NOW WE CALL OR EMAIL AND SEND PICTURES AND BRACKETS TO EACH OTHER AND WE LIVE OUR LIVES AS MOMS AND WIVES. I AM HAPPY WHERE I AM AND I DON'T NEED TO GO OUT MULTI PULE NIGHTS A WEEK OR JOIN 5 CLUBS TO FEEL SATISFIED. I AM FULFILLED BY THE LOVE THAT MY HUBBIE, GIRLS, PARENTS, AND BEST FRIENDS GIVE ME WHEN EVER WE HAPPEN TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM TOGETHER.
I am now resolved to avoiding the group and enjoy my life rather than living in the past. This may sound silly but I would paint my whole house over again to feel as satisfied as I am now with this whole issue. For those of you living close in proximity to me and feeling the same as I have been, remember who you are right now and know that you are not alone and you can go to any park at any time and not feel like the uninvited third wheel. Power to me! Yeah!
Okay I'm done.
So an update, I have not lost any more weight this month, but as my mom pointed out I have maintained. I slacked on my vitamins of D3 & Omega3 and I could really tell, which is a good thing because that means that they are doing their job (happy to say it was easy to get back on track with those). The best part of all this was the meditation that I was able to do while painting. Kind of like my revelation in the shower (which started all this) I came to some conclusions which has really benefited me.
There is a group of ladies that I am acquainted with who have a particular knack for excluding others from their little adventures but then talking about how wonderful they were and how great of friends they all are, while you (being one of many not included) are sitting with and group of them. I have tried to ignore this, I have tried to comment (thinking that was what they wanted and it would help move the conversation to a more even playing field - it was not very successful), and then I finally tried the avoidance method, as I think many others are doing. Well this has worked the best. I enjoy these women one-on-one they are young, beautiful, intelligent and delightful ladies in their own way and on their own, but something happens when they form a group around themselves. They have the ability to transfer you emotions and thoughts back to high school when your clothes mattered, your hair style mattered, the car you drove, the boy you clung to. They transport you here and make you feel like the unpopular kid you either once were or swore you never would be. This is why I avoid them as a group, I don't want to go there and I like my thoughts to be on how I am doing good as a mother, my hubbie still loves me and although he has lost all his hair he is sexy and provides for me and my girls emotionally, temporally, spiritually and in every other way I can think of. I don't' have a lot of great clothes but my car is perfect for my family and we a have a beautiful home.
The one thing I don't get a lot, that they seem too, is the "girl time". I think this is where the problem and solution lie. I would love to be able to go out once a week with girl friends and get a coke at a fav restaurant or just watch a great chick flick and eat ice cream...but...(1) I am married to an amazing man and I am the mother to amazing girls I want to be with them too. (2) I only have my hubbie around 2 nights during the week and Saturday is a family day and Sunday we devote to Church and family. (3) I want to use money as an excuse, because we don't have tons, but really I would use it on something else any way so its not really a huge factor here. Really I guess it is that, is girl time worth more to me than family time...NO. Easy but at times it still hurts. So here is my conclusion. I got my girls time in college, I played a lot, I dated a lot, I stayed up late at night with my roommates and watched chick flicks and ate ice cream, we went shopping together and went on mini vacations, we cried and laughed and got all that bonding done. These girls went about this a different way, some went to college, some didn't, they all married young and had children relatively fast (of course there are exceptions to ever rule but these are my generalizations). Point being they did not get their girls time in college before marring and starting families. Now they are trying to capture that. To find out who they are together as a group, to get that acceptance that they need and to form friendships with their children.
Well here is my new perspective: GOOD FOR THEM. GO HAVE YOUR GIRL FUN. ENJOY IT! I LOVED MINE AND I MADE AMAZING LIFE LONG FRIENDS, AND NOW WE CALL OR EMAIL AND SEND PICTURES AND BRACKETS TO EACH OTHER AND WE LIVE OUR LIVES AS MOMS AND WIVES. I AM HAPPY WHERE I AM AND I DON'T NEED TO GO OUT MULTI PULE NIGHTS A WEEK OR JOIN 5 CLUBS TO FEEL SATISFIED. I AM FULFILLED BY THE LOVE THAT MY HUBBIE, GIRLS, PARENTS, AND BEST FRIENDS GIVE ME WHEN EVER WE HAPPEN TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM TOGETHER.
I am now resolved to avoiding the group and enjoy my life rather than living in the past. This may sound silly but I would paint my whole house over again to feel as satisfied as I am now with this whole issue. For those of you living close in proximity to me and feeling the same as I have been, remember who you are right now and know that you are not alone and you can go to any park at any time and not feel like the uninvited third wheel. Power to me! Yeah!
Okay I'm done.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
