How Do You Speak to Yourself?
A letter, from me to me.
Hey to myself - Just here to remind you that you did good today.
It didn’t start the way you planned. You set your alarm for 4 a.m., hoping to get ahead and set the tone for the day — but life had other plans.
Your son woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom, and it took until 6 a.m. to get him back to sleep. That was two precious hours you really needed. From there, things got reactive. You were rushing from 6 to 8 a.m., juggling dogs, cleaning, cooking, and just trying to get yourself together — barely a second to breathe.
Theeennnn came the scramble — you had prepped everything for your son’s birthday celebration at school (cake, cupcakes, supplies — you did all of that this morning), and in the rush to leave, it all got left behind. After dropping him off at school, you turned around, faced traffic, and did the drive all over again. All while taking work calls in the car and responding to messages by asking people to just give you a ring.
Physically, you’ve been feeling off since yesterday — and you still haven’t taken anything to help. You pushed through the discomfort. While I don’t like that you did this, I get it. Emotionally, your heart’s been racing and you haven’t felt a moment of peace. And now your mind is spinning, starting to list out all the personal responsibilities still waiting to be done. But think about this … even in that whirlwind of chaos, you remained grounded - you stayed present, affirmed yourself when your heart rate got up to high, and controlled your thoughts instead of allowing your thoughts to control you. Girrrrrlll, that’s strength. That is not something you could do 5 years ago, you don’t even realize how powerful you are sometimes.
And now — by 11 a.m., you have shown up for your son, your pets, your work. You did all the things, even if it wasn’t the perfectly organized day you envisioned. You didn’t let your emotions derail you.
In the middle of everything, you also took a moment to respond to some of your friends and the parent’s of your son’s friends text messages. That’s love, it’s an action, you making space for your people - consistently.
And let’s not forget the love others showed to you in the middle of the chaos — your son’s joy this morning, his affection, and that little voice saying, “Mama, I so proud of you.” You bought lunch for his teachers and the front desk staff — and you got to see them smile. That made your heart smile, I felt it expand and the tightness you felt in your chest ease slightly. Then later you got a text from a friend saying “TY for thinking about me on a busy Monday morning.” You are love, you embody the values of it. I want to give you the biggest hug right now because knowing you, you’ve probably already moved on to the next thing you need to take care of. It is a work day after all.
So yeah, maybe today was far from peaceful or according to plan. But it was full, so many people wish to have the full life you have. Albert Schweitzer said "The purpose of human life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." Baby girl … you lived well this morning - it was full of intentional effort, love, sacrifice, and care. You moved through it. You made it work. More importantly, you took 45 minutes out of your busy day to write this letter to yourself. Even though your mind started to tell you that you didn’t have the time, you reminded yourself that you are in control of your thoughts, not the other way around. Your thoughts are there to help you recognize the stress your heart, body, and mind are experiencing, but they don’t dictate your actions.
Love, Me 🖤
P.S. – Someone told me recently that they ask themselves this question, if you weren’t afraid today what would you do? What’s your answer today? I would let go of my mom guilt and pick up my son later than I normally do so I can spend some time alone after work to breathe and feel.