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ReneeJRoss
http://cutiebootycakes.blogspot.com/2009/08/work-life-balance-does-such-thing.html This
morning I received an email from my friend T. today thanking me for
giving her a referral to a blogging program. At the end of her note she
requested that I write a blog post about organization. I had to
chuckle. Organization? Me? I need to ask for tips and pointers in this
area myself. I am far from being organized. There are days when
everything seems to fall into place for me and I go to bed with a sigh
of relief. Then there are the days when I run around like a chicken
with its head cut off and wonder what happened to the time and did I
really get so little accomplished.
I know that what I need is
balance. A life that is filled with a balance of work and play. Finding
that balance as a mother and an entrepreneur
is difficult. Working from home has benefits but there are seriously
challenges to overcome too. I liken it to having adult ADD. Although I
do not in actuality have this diagnosis, working on my computer all day
(and sometimes night) it is very easy to get distracted. Ooooh
what is that over there - it is pretty and sparkly and wait, what was I
doing again? Confusion abounds and chaos and disorder are frequently
the order of my day. Somehow I manage to get "things" done but honestly
my to-do list continues to grow and rarely can I say that it is
completely finished. I admit that many times I am totally overwhelmed
and just don't see a way out from under all of my responsibilities. And
sometimes, I fail. I fail to be the neatest housekeeper, I fail to get
all of my work done, my son sometimes watches more television that I
like to admit.I recognize that my struggle is not mine alone. I
think most mothers are trying to find a work life balance - even if
their work is being a domestic engineer. I recently was given a
lifeline when I met Victoria. She is one of the moms that I interviewed
while working with The Motherhood as a correspondent for http://momshomeroom.msn.com/ .
I was awed by Victoria and all of her accomplishments. Victoria is an
elementary school teacher and was awarded "teacher of the year" in
2007. She is also a single mother to 4 children. As I struggle to
manage it all with one child and a husband I HAD to ask her how she
does it all. Her response was simple "I don't."Can we breath a
collective sigh here? This accomplished woman simply decides to give
herself a break and makes no apology for it. She told me that many
mothers look at balance as a see saw that teeters from one side to
another but in reality it is more like a Frisbee floating on the surface of a pool. The Frisbee
dips and bends as gentle waves pass in the water. In essence, some days
are better than others, accept it, do what you can and move on.I
have to say that her words echo in my psyche often. I am working on
trying to dispel the myth of the Super Woman/Mom that all (or at least many) of us hold ourselves up to. It is not realistic or sustainable and
in many instances it ends up being detrimental to our health. I think
that we can all learn from Victoria's insights. When you have an
opportunity, stop by and lhttp://momshomeroom.msn.com/ , this woman never ceases to amaze me.
over 2 years ago - Comment
Cooper Renee, what powerful insights. If anyone gets the chance, check out some of the comments to this post on Renee's blog: http://cutiebootycakes.blogspot.com/2009/08/work-life-balance-does-such-thing.html
over 2 years ago