It seemed doable. Help me get my first book in order. Keep the house clean. Send the book to a few publishers. Do the laundry. Get a book deal all lined up. Make dinner. Totally doable. Except it wasn’t.
This is what I had in mind when I first heard my forever mom would be home with my new little person and I for almost a whole 12 weeks after he was born. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s one of those things she apparently read about in all the baby books and blogs and online forums and neglected to tell anyone. Maybe because she hoped it wouldn’t be true. But it was.
Tomorrow is the 12-week anniversary of dear Carter’s birth. And while mom has done a pretty stellar job (at least in my opinion) of keeping the house in order during that time, anything beyond that has all but fallen by the wayside. That thing all her friends told her about never having time to so much as shower on a daily basis? Truth.
So you can imagine how far my plans for our book deal didn’t get. I may as well have added changing the world to the to-do list. Ultimately that’s what I want to do with my book after all. But now that mom is back to work and we are in transition, I realized today the biggest thing standing in the way of changing the world is ourselves.
I watch as mom holds herself to impossible standards. She is always trying to do everything (and then some). Trying to be everything to everyone. And when it’s all said and done, she ends up losing herself in a disarray of high expectations and disappointment. It’s a nightmare to watch. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live.
To me it seemed doable. But maybe that was my mistake. What do I know? I have two main jobs in life – love my people with all of my heart and soul and share my joy with the world. Everything else is taken care of for me. The same cannot be said of my people. They work hard. They have long lists of things to do that don’t always get done. It must be pretty normal for people to have this problem.
Except I can’t say it’s actually a problem when you know the solution. It’s tough for just one person to do it all. To change the world. But we, together, can change the world. We just have to work together. We just have to live. We just have to do it one paw print at a time. All forward motion counts.
Today’s post is dedicated to my dear friend HuntMode, who helped me see the light on this topic today.
Thank you, Huntie, for your friendship and love.
Wiley's Wisdom 
Life sometimes has a way of taking over your plans…
This is true…
Wyles, thank you. How very kind of you. You hit it on the head, bud. It’s called Type E: Everything to Everybody, but yourself. And, it is devastating to the woman who believes she should be able to do it. Let’s do it one paw print at a time. Love HuntMode
🙂 Thank you. I wish I could have incorporated more of your wisdom…as I would, had I heard it previously. This thing about being type E (everything to everybody) intrigues me. 🙂
Lots of love to you,
Wyles
Ah, you are in luck, Wyles. The Type E Woman is actually a book – http://www.amazon.com/The-Type-Woman-Everything-Everybody/dp/0595222730
It says copyright 2002, but I believe it came out earlier, perhaps under a different publisher. And how am I so wise? Roaring with laughter – ah, Wyles, because I was a Type E woman! Lots of love to you, my brave dreamer friend. HuntMode
I love this! I will definitely be sharing it with my mom. Thank you!
How very true, Wiles, one paw at a time and not expexting too much. Small paws are enough. Saviour the moment and let go. Often as we say we are our own obstacles and our limiting beliefs stop us. Your book will happen, give it time. And by the way you and your daily writings on this blog already change the world… bit by bit! ♥
Aw, your words about my blog and its bit by bit influence kind of made my day. This is not unusual, but thank you again for being a source of joy in my day.
Lots of love,
Wiles
that is a lot going on in your life woof! Any treats included for you and my furster?
🙂 I get extra treats when my people are so distracted. Bonus! They forget or don’t communicate to each other whether I’ve had treats so I usually get a couple extra than I used to. Can’t complain about that. 🙂
It’s OK to have something undone every night when you go to bed. It’s a good reason to get up and start striving in the morning.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
I never stop learning from you, dear Cupcake. 🙂
Lots of love,
Wiles
you are very wise!
🙂 Thank you! High paw!!!
Remember that you are only one person and you cannot do everything yourself. I am at home all day too, and some days I don’t have any time for myself and that is when I make myself sit down & do something that I want to do. I can’t get everything done in a day either and take care of two dogs too, but keep it in perspective and not worry too much about it. It all works out in the end. ❤
🙂 Your words bring warmth to my mom’s heart. It does indeed all work out in the end – she can never hear that enough. 😉
I am sometimes a worry-er too, but when I catch myself, I realize that I am stressing myself out over nothing. Like, who cares if laundry does not get done today or tomorrow – – if you can put on clean clothes today, then I’m doing my job correctly. Laundry can wait, until you run out of clean undies! ❤
🙂 You’re funny. 🙂
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Thanks for the pingback!
Last week my co-worker came up to me and said “Guess what? I am finally caught up”. Ha, I wish I knew what that felt like. But you made a very good point in your post – one paw at a time. That’s sometimes the best that we can do and that is absolutely fine. Thanks Wiley!
Catching up is such a funny expression I think. Is one really ever caught up? I can’t tell for sure. I do know it’s best to take things one paw at a time though – that much is tried and true around here. 🙂
Lots of love,
Wiles