Tag: Smile

I’m neck deep in an editing project, in the middle of several productions for future posts, getting ready for the next year of homeschooling, and all around feeling the pressure of everything going on in life right now.

Can you relate?

On the one hand I’m a contender for mother of the year. And at the same time, on the other hand, I can recognize how I can also be failing as a mom.

My kids don’t want to hear the list of everything that’s on my plate. They can’t yet comprehend the fine art behind juggling the balls you keep in the air and letting a few drop to the ground.

Juggling

If any of you who haven’t heard this juggling analogy before, this is one lesson I regularly remind myself.

Each task or responsibility we face each day is a ball. Throughout the day we juggle all these balls. Some days there are a few. Other days there’s an insane amount that feels like you’re in the deep end of a ball pit. From expectations from others, and even ourselves, we fight to keep all these balls in the air, juggling, trying to accomplish everything.

Except balls drops to the ground, here and there. Maybe it’s one or two. Maybe it’s a dozen.

Some of these balls are plastic. They can fall and wait to be juggled tomorrow. Others are glass and shatter when they fall to the ground. These are the time sensitive, deadlines, appointments, the final straw that affects a relationship…the things that have consequences if we put them off for tomorrow.

No one can say which type of a ball a certain task is. What might be plastic to me is glass to you. And what is glass to me is plastic to you.

And my have to juggle number of ball is going to be different from your number of have to juggle balls. But the one thing that is consistent across the board is that if we have to drop a ball, drop a plastic one. And we can always stop juggling for a moment to set aside a plastic or glass ball.

Setting a ball to a side is always 100% within our control. Dropping a ball can happen from an accident, mismanagement of time, or countless other potential of things happening that are outside of our control. But the impact is felt.

Back to Mischief

Yes, my kids don’t understand how much I juggle. What they see is that mom is busy. And all they really want is to have some attention and fun.

So I turned a task into something a little more fun and took care of two juggling balls at the same time. I dropped off a present and had a little fun with the boys.

My loved one wasn’t home for me to give them their gift. However, I had the opportunity to put their gift in a safe place. Needing to have some fun with my boys, and knowing this person loves a good bit of mischief, this was the perfect moment to do a little something.

It wasn’t enough to just leave the present on a table.

I initiated the help of a couple of stuffies, other decorative items, and a game from around their house. The boys enjoyed setting up hungry hippos with marshmallows instead of the marbles. And while they were sad that they couldn’t see this person and spend time with them, it was enough to leave a little bit of our presence behind. In essence we had a party without having a party.

This is not a typical post. But that’s okay!

Sometimes, the best things we can do in life is to take a break and have a little fun.

When you’re caught up in the juggling of a million different things, the best thing is to set down all the balls for a few minutes and do one thing that’s unplanned. (As I loaded the kids back up into the car, the first thing out of their mouths was “thank you mom for the mischief.”) Five minutes of nonsensical and unplanned fun can set things/situations right, clear out your mind of the rushing highway of thoughts, the balls you madly juggle out of control slow down and become less overwhelming.

Obvious, as you look at the pictures of this one little scene, there was absolutely nothing productive about this moment. Not on paper anyway. However, it was still meaningful. For my loved one, it makes a little story of “I miss you, but you mean more to me than me just dropping off a present.” For my boys, it was teaming up with them and doing something childish with them outside of my to-do list. For me, it was a reminder that I am the master of my life. My schedule doesn’t dictate my time. My to-do list isn’t the end all be all. Above all it was me giving myself permission to not be a responsible adult for one brief moment and do something fun that’s non-productive.

No matter what you’re facing today, give yourself permission to enjoy one brief moment in your day.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a bride caught up in the middle of planning your wedding, a parent pulling out your hair because it’s a rough day with the kids, you’re having a terrible day at work, feel like there’s nothing you can do that’s right according to someone else… no matter what the reason is that is causing you to be in the dumps… it is okay.

Part of finding success in life is getting out from under the oppressive feelings that are overwhelming you. Step away and take a breath. Do one small thing that makes you smile. You gain bonus points if you can make yourself laugh.

These create successful moments, because you change things up.

You change the way you’re feeling in the moment.

You’re creating a moment where you’re in full control of your choice. Yes, you still have choices and options available to you.

You open up a creative moment into your thinking. And once you complete a creative act, your brain is activated to come up with another creative idea and action.

How can you take a creative break today???

In case you are wondering where you can find some of the items in the pictures…

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