So while sitting in the ambulance, all that went through my head was how fragile life is. How life turns on a dime. How one minute you’re celebrating, and the next minute you’re praying. In fact, at this very moment, my uncle is very ill in the hospital. We were talking about him at the dinner table, and how life is just not fair sometimes. I don’t have to tell you this. We all know life isn’t always fair.
Actually, guilt does serve its purpose on occasion. It sometimes guides us when things go wrong in our lives, when we’re not working hard enough, or when we’ve done something wrong, for example. But us ladies truly take guilt to a whole new level. I would even go so far as to call it our disease. We suffer from guilt about so many things. Instead of recognizing all the wonderful things we do for those around us, we let the things we CAN’T do completely overtake our mind. This is a sad thing ladies. Sad. But I will tell you, I suffer from this disease as well! And it’s chronic.
Secondly, after my golf game yesterday, over lunch, my girlfriends and I started chatting about husbands and cheating. The girls said, “If my husband was cheating, I wouldn’t want to know.” I blurted out, “You wouldn’t want to know?!” And no, they wouldn’t want to know. I’m not going to go into more detail, and even though I understood where they were coming from, I found this odd. Please, if anyone knows my husband is cheating on me, I WANT TO KNOW. Please email me at the above address. Thank you kindly.
So, the “fence” issue here is, do you keep a friendship going with someone you share very little in common with just for history’s sake, or do you let the friendship fizzle? I think this is difficult to answer. We’re all busy women in our lives at this stage, be it working, single, married, divorced… whatever. Frienships should nurture us, not weigh us down. So I encourage you to let go of all friends that are toxic, that weigh you down.
When Elizabeth Edwards married John Edwards in 1977, she had but one request for her husband… that he be faithful to her. This was paramount to Elizabeth from day one. Unfortunately, we all know the outcome. I can only imagine her struggle living life on the fence with whether to stay or leave once she learned of his infidelities. She has recently documented some of those feelings in a new book, “Resilience.”
Ladies, I just had to address the subject of in laws for all my girlfriends in Montreal. The stories, the laughs, the tears, it’s all very… well… amusing. I can’t tell you how many of my friends love to vent about their in laws!
It sort of goes something like this… “My mother in law is planning my whole life, and I want to tell her to back off… My father in law gave my child a hamburger when I clearly told him we’re VEGETARIANS… My mother in law is suffocating me…” And the stories go on and on.
I often hear, “I look like sh*t… I feel like sh*t… I need to lose 10 pounds… I’m too short… My thighs are too big… My skin looks old… I”m sagging…” and the list goes on and on. We are very hard on ourselves. Who can blame us? All you have to do is open any magazine… you see what you’re “supposed” to look like. An airbrushed, anorexic, body focused, diet and exercise obsessed individual. Sweethearts, you’re never gonna win that battle. Kelly Ripa, Madonna, and Gwyneth’s bodies are their careers. They have unlimited budgets to spend on custom designed organic meals brought to them three times a day. A trainer 7 days a week. A masseuse. An accupuncturist. A yoga guru. A spiritual adviser. A beautician on call 24/7. And the list goes go on and on.
So, you’ve finished years of schooling, graduated with top honors, you’re making a nice salary, you have a few beautiful kids, and things couldn’t be better… right? WRONG. You are overworked, overstressed, and are lacking some serious alone time.The “fine balance theory” of women being able to juggle a career, a home, a husband, and happiness is a very ancient concept. However, the issues arising for young working women today couldn’t be more modern. It is virtually impossible to have a one-income household today. If you want to be able to give your children what your baby-booming parents gave you… private school, camps, cars and comforts, you’d better be working. So, going to work becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessity. And I don’t mean to afford that bigger house or that fancy car… I mean diapers, formula, nursery, groceries… everyday living expenses
But all back to the point of this blog. Experts do say that for a woman to stay mentally happy and healthy, everyone needs personal time– time just for themselves. I know this. If I go too long without a girls night out, a fast getaway with my hubby, or even a long walk alone, I start to LOSE IT! I mean lose it. I do.
The truth is for many, sleep deprivation is a major issue. We all know how it feels when you’re lying awake in bed trying to fall asleep, and your mind is racing. Thoughts are coming from everywhere, and although your body is lying quite still, your mind is running an iron man marathon. It’s almost as if you’re thinking 100 times faster at night than you do during the day.
I help busy women (like you!) prioritize self-care so you can experience less stress, more calm and greater joy every day!
