A Day In the Life...

Juggling the various hats I wear, in the middle of a very stressful and painful PCS, has become so much more of a challenge the past few months.

I know you have all seen those little pictures on Facebook that show the various different impressions of what someone does versus what they actually do.  I find those pictures hilarious.  I have seen a couple for impressions of the Stay-At-Home Mom, the Writer, the Editor, the Online Student, and the Blogger- all hats that I wear.  While they are all funny, and they all hit on a fragment of truth and irony, they still do not really convey how hard it is to be all things for everyone. 

I know many Moms, whether you work from home or you work outside the home, can relate.  I know many Stay-at-Home Moms who do not work (money making work, that is) who can relate.   I know we all have periods of our lives where we drop one of our hats.  It flies off in the chaos of facing challenges while wearing some of the others.   We leave it lying on the floor for a short time and then it gets momentarily forgotten.  Then when we realize that hat has been neglected, sometimes we panic and over-compensate trying to catch up for the time lost.

I know we have periods where the juggling of the hats becomes more of a balancing act, and for periods the chaos disappears and we find ourselves able to find perfect unity between those different roles.  Short as those periods may be, we are reminded that we are never given more than we can carry, and those roles enhance our lives, are productive for our family, and benefit us as we move forward.

One danger I have found is how I compare my hat juggling to my peers.  This is dangerous.  Never compare your hats and how you juggle them with how well or how poorly you think your neighbor juggles theirs.  I have seen comments, shoot I have posted some, where we brag about all we have accomplished in a period of time.  Or maybe we lament all that we failed to do in a period of time.  Pretty soon after that initial comment, others soon post their own time management success and failure.  I do not know about you all, but for me, I see it as a competition.

Why would I do that to myself?  What does it matter how Joe Schmo handles his time?  How does his hat juggling affect MY hat juggling.  I do not share an office with him.  Shoot, I do not even share the same career choice as him, beyond the fact that we both work from home.  Yet, I do.  I find myself comparing my crazy-busy-for-me schedule to their publicized schedule and feel like I have fallen short somehow.

Thing is I cannot do all the things others can do, just as they cannot do all the things I do.  I have a different set of expectations concerning the way I parent, the way I keep my home, the way I conduct business, and the way I perform my job.  For all my own expectations, others have their own about what they do.  There is absolutely NO comparing our daily lives and the challenges we face as we walk through them.

So... for a glimpse into my daily life, let me say this- it is uniquely mine.  Yours is uniquely yours.

Do not fret when you find your hats are not as balanced as you would like them to be.  Do not compare your hats to the ones your neighbor wears.  They might appear to have it all perfectly in sync at the moment, but you do not see all that is involved, just as they do not see all that is involved when yours start to fall off.   And do not forget- some hats are only meant to be worn for a time.  Do not be afraid to shuck a hat for a time.  Just as well, do not be afraid to take up a new hat.   So long as you have set your priorities and keep them in line with His Will for your life, none of those hats will become too much.

God bless!