Viral Videos and Vulnerability.

I just shed a couple of tears because I gave into a viral video, and it got me. The video was a staged interview for the "world's toughest job". The job title called for being on one's feet 24/7. It described no lunch breaks, working holidays, and zero salary. It took me about 30 seconds to figure out that they were talking about motherhood. At the end of the video, the candidates for the position were told that this was a fake interview and that the job position was motherhood. All of the candidates proceeded to thank their mothers for all of their hard work. Of course, these thank you's weren't gifts as much as they were products of manipulation. These candidates had just been guilted into a thank you. Nevertheless, it moved me to tears.

I soaked in every bit of it. Heck, I am a mom. I get tired (and hormonal). So I soaked it up, as I sat on leather couch with my feet propped up as my belly was busy digesting the yummy Chikfila salad that I had just devoured. 

That's when it dawned on me. This is how I feel about my work from time to time, but it's simply not reality.

I do get to sit down from time to time. The work is hard and the hours are long, but sometimes I don't rest when I should (or nourish my body properly to give it the fuel it needs) and that makes my work all but manageable. Some days, I am the queen of busy work. Must do the dishes, laundry, clean closets, scrub the bathrooms, grocery shop, cook dinner, and more in one day...no, that's not good enough; in one afternoon. I must do it now. Now. NOW. Yea, some days are legitimately harder than others, but if I am honest my pride gets to me.

My pride eggs me on saying, "I'm a mom. I'm supposed to work endlessly. I have the world's toughest job. If I don't burn myself out, I'm not doing it right."

False. Lies. Big ones. 

As a mom, sometimes I worship motherhood. And she is a slave driver at best. 

I love this talk from Brene Brown about vulnerability and being okay with being imperfect. She talks about vulnerability being neither exhilarating or excruciating; but being necessary. 

This is good. So good. 

So you know what, I don't regret those tears that I shed in watching this ad (yup, this viral video turned out to be an ad. Go figure). These tears were indicators, indicators that I'm a little tired this week. Fortunately, I already knew that which was why I was resting like I was with my feet propped up as my belly was busy digesting the yummy Chikfila salad that I had just devoured. (Go me for resting!!)

It's okay not to do it all, and it's okay to be tired even if you aren't doing "everything", whether you are a mom or not. 

There's no need to try to justify your feelings or stress. We all struggle with something. There is a place for struggle in life. Consider it pure joy when you go through trials of many kinds. Embrace it. 

Let's live wholehearted. 

I strongly encourage you to listen to Brene Brown's talk in the video below. It's about 20 minutes long, but so so good in the context of this issue.