Sometimes I'll see another mama struggling to get her kids to cooperate while she's barely holding it together. I'll see her give up on something she feels too discouraged to keep pushing through. I'll see another woman throw her hands up in defeat. I'll see her with bags under her eyes, a forced smile on her face. Maybe it's confusion or fear, remorse or guilt or pure exhaustion on her face from whatever situation she's been silently suffering through.
I'll see her and be over here thinking. "You go, mama. You've got this! You're doing amazing" ... because to me, she truly is. I'll think. "What a warrior mama... juggling so much and still so determined, so resilient, so brave!! Just handling it... no matter what it is." She may not see it that way, but I do. She doesn't know I'm thinking this, but I am.
And yet when I myself falter, when I fail to keep it all together, when I get behind or overwhelmed or just tired, I feel like such a failure. I feel like I've let myself and everyone else down.
I wonder how many of us feel that way. I'd guess that we all do at some point.
I hope on the days you feel down, you feel overwhelmed, you feel tired or just not like yourself...I hope you can give yourself the same gentleness, the same kindness, the same understanding, that you show others. I'm pretty sure this is called grace. Goodness knows we could all use a little more of it... especially towards ourselves.
Mamas or not, man or woman; we all need to be a lot more gentle with ourselves. We're all doing the best we can... and that's enough. It really is.
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