Lately, I have been experiencing a real paradigm shift in my little world, and I want to share it with all of you.
I decided that I have used the word "SHOULD" far too much in my life!
The word "SHOULD" always made me feel that I could never DO enough, or BE enough. I felt like I would never be able to measure up to all the high expectations that the word "SHOULD" implied.
This past week, I realized that I've been draining all my energy and happiness with feelings of guilt over things that were completely silly-- all because of this one little word!
"SHOULD"
I discovered that all my self-loathing over my inadequacies was actually keeping me from being closer to the Savior, and was not allowing his great Atonement to work in my life.
No more.
This past week, I've given myself PERMISSION to remove that one, discouraging, energy-draining, horrible word from my vocabulary and my life!
And what's amazing to me, is I've been more effective in my homemaking duties, more loving to my husband, more patient with my children, and more joyful in my life-- all because of the removal of one word:
"SHOULD"
Here's how this post relates to all of you: I feel all the women who read this blog deserve an apology.
If I have EVER made any of you feel like you're falling short in your homemaking efforts, I'm so sorry!
If this blog has ever given you discouragement or frustration, I'm so sorry!
Please know that we ALL have permission to remove the terrible word, "SHOULD" from our lives.
YOU ARE DOING GREAT THINGS. And your sacrifices, your love, your patience, your efforts ARE ENOUGH.
I know that God thinks so.
So let's all stop "SHOULD-ing" on ourselves and get down to the business of serving, loving, and spreading joy to those in our lives who matter most.
Just FYI, there are some changes that will be coming to this blog very soon, in an effort to help us all do just the above, and I'm so excited to have you all on this journey with me! We can encourage, and lift one another and those in our homes through our homemaking efforts.
And unrealistic expectations are not an effective part of those efforts. So I'm saying goodbye to "SHOULD" and hello to "JOY"!
We all have permission to do that, you know... ;-)
This is resonating with me because I have been experiencing a similar paradigm shift! I am noticing different areas of my life where my growth has been impeded or my joy lost because I was too focused on the 'rules'. I've decided I'm throwing off those shackles! I'm gonna dance to my own tunes from now on! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have also had a growing sense of needing to represent myself honestly to other mothers so as to not perpetuate the myth of the Supermum. We can be an encourager of women, letting our lights shine for the Lord, and still be real.
I'm looking forward to seeing what changes you make.
I love that picture! LOL! It does describe life when we run faster than we "should".
ReplyDeleteYour post are always wonderful and timely.
Hi Rachel, I left you a little something over on my blog if you want to take a quick look. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://melodious-sonnet.blogspot.com/
Completely agree with getting rid of the "should" s! Congrats on removing it!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks, ladies! :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd a special "Thank You" to Shanny for your kind words and the award on your blog. I hope all is well for you and yours "Down Under"! {{{hugs}}}
all i have ever found here is inspiration so no apology needed. :) though at times i have wished i was half as good as you...i do believe we are all at different places in our journey. be encouraged today and keep inspiring us all, it's a great thing to have in this world that speaks nothing of truth to wives and mothers.
ReplyDelete