I hear my son fussing, I reach over to touch my phone to see the time. 5:30, it’s only 5:30 am. Why in the hell does this kid wake up BEFORE the roosters?! I lay there for another minute just hoping he will fall back to sleep and give me at least another hour… not a chance. I get up to make him his morning bottle and bring him to the bed with us for snuggles before we start our day. I’m standing there waiting for his bottle to warm, I start to feel funny. I’m hot and sweaty, my heart keeps beating faster and faster, I start shaking. Before I know it, my vision starts tunneling, so I all out my boyfriends name.
Minutes later, I’m waking up in my bedroom floor with a glass of water spilled on the floor and soaked from sweat. I feel so so crappy, I’m sick to my stomach, my head is pounding, I’m dizzy and terrified. Not entirely how I expected to spend Mother’s Day. I decide I should probably go get checked out since this crappy feeling isn’t going anywhere. While Im waiting on my aunt to pick up my son for the day, I’m sitting on the couch watching my son play. I can’t help but cry, I am totally devastated that I won’t be spending this day with my boy.
He notices my change in mood and sees me crying, he stops what he’s doing and runs right to me. He wraps me in a hug, as if he’s saying “it’s okay momma.” It was in this moment that I knew I had some major life changes to make. I mean seriously, how did I let myself go this far? I’m a mom, a mentor, and coach. How in the hell am I supposed to set examples for my son, for other women, other mommas when I’m not even caring for myself. I mean, I thought I was. I was eating healthy, I’m exercising. But I’m also spreading myself so thin. I’m staying up too late, I’m putting too much on myself, I’m overwhelmed with stress from running 3 business and not having any type of schedule or limits.
“Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to chose how you use it.”
Anna Taylor
So, it turns out caring for yourself goes beyond working out and eating healthy. You can be in shape physically but if you don’t care for yourself in other aspects all that won’t matter. Set limits for yourself, go to bed early, drink water, take hot baths, stretch, read a good book just because.
My friends and family have been giving me this advice for months. Telling me the slow down, I’m hard headed and stubborn. But also very driven, obviously. It took me literally passing out in my floor not once, but twice to realize that they were right. I am committing to caring for myself better, because my son needs me. And because I want to inspire others to do the same.
I am telling you this story because I want you to know that everyone falls down, everyone makes mistakes. No ones journey is perfect. Not yours, not mine, and not the perfectly toned girl lifting in your instagram reels. All of our journeys have bumps in the road, and we may get a little off track sometimes. But those bumps, they don’t ruin this journey for you. They don’t make or break you. They don’t define you. Because when you fall, you get right back up off your ass, you wipe yourself off, and you pick back up where you left off. If there’s one thing that will bring you to your goals, it’s consistency. Its committing even when things get rough. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth it. If it was comfortable, you wouldn’t see change. You got this girl, I’m rooting for you!
Mom life and the things in between 