The question of this week's contest caught me off guard. I felt like someone was pointing at me because it was so relatable. I often do unnecessary things to make it perfect and overlook what needs more attention.
Then I saw @joanstewart, who asked the question, and I thought, well, as a woman, she must know how women are. We women can read each other from another corner of the room, let alone this small thin one, right?
Thanks for this thoughtful question. Now, let me dig in and write down my reflection.
Photo: Made with the help of Canva.
2024 was not a great year for me. I was not feeling okay mentally and physically and still going through a lot. I wrote a post a month ago about this, you can find that HERE. However, I'm determined to make a change this year and working on it.
Over the last few years, I learned that adaptability is one of the best things that helps me keep going. There are many ups and downs; coping with the situation and learning to let go and move on became my motto.
Between this learning, I came to a balancing point: I understood that it's better to make some progress because I can't and will never make my life so-called 'perfect'. And to progress I'm focusing on Better communication and Genuine Engagement.
I unintentionally isolated myself and now I started to make connections with friends and family again. I hope this will help me to move on.
Because of my mental health, I was not on a good term with my family and friends. It was a hard time. When I recovered from my last physical issues, I promised myself to make a change.
The change would be to focus on My well-being and Strengthening my family bond.
As a SHM I feel challenged to give a positive vibe because I have to be around 24/7. I'm not perfect and sometimes I yell, I wouldn't lie. I may not gonna make things upside down right now.
I'm making progress through being active in my son's education and learning, taking care of my physical and mental health, and maintaining a self-care routine.*
I have to admit that, I often feel lazy or fear of messing up so I usually don't try new things and love to follow a set routine. I denied so many invitations to avoid messing with my day-to-day routine and getting awkward questions. This made me isolated from the world.
Learning that it's okay to be imperfect, there is nothing wrong with showing the world what I'm not capable of, to sharing how bad my life is going; took me some time yet I came to a term to accept this. And now,
I'm not into making my life picture perfect rather focus on my mental and physical health, family, and finding peace. I made a journal (I will share it in detail in another post) to achieve my monthly goals. They are not anything big but some small things like making a new recipe, spending quality time with my son, having a dine out with my husband, having a small family party; and things like that.
I'm growing at my own pace, the rest of the world is going fast in front of my eyes and I don't care anymore. I'm seeing people's perfect lives, and their kids growing up and I'm trying to be happy with my only son. I see people's houses and cars and luxurious lifestyles and I'm settling down with my peace of mind, not anything else.
I let go off to run to achieve other's 'perfect life' and focus on my slow progress. probably I will not gain much, maybe they wouldn't be enough to fulfill my once 'perfect' mind. But I'm not stopping, these everyday small actions are what keep me going and make me happy.
Wes & Grindan