Newsflash: nobody in the world is able to give 150% every day. Some days, I can give 150%, and some days, I can only give 4%. On those 4% days, I have often found myself internally beating myself up about not being able to give 150%, and maybe you’ve found yourself doing the same. The aftermath of that thinking is that I spend the entire time tormenting myself about the fact that I don’t have the time to rest, which means my brain and body are unable to actually take that time to recharge. Those negative thoughts take away from the fact that I need to rest, so when the next day comes, I don’t feel any better - and sometimes, I feel even worse.

We all exchange “hellos” and “how’s the family” pleasantries on a daily basis. As we go about our daily lives, we have conversations with people at work, our kid’s activities, and the grocery store. So, I want you to think for a second about how you respond to those types of pleasantries. What is your typical response when someone asks how you are doing? If, in reality, your life is in shambles and you’re struggling to exist, do you simply reply with “I’m good, thanks,” or do you respond with the truth of how you’re doing? It’s a tough thing, I know, and I know there is a line here, but why do we as humans always feel the need to show others that we are ok, even if we are not? And at what point did it become unacceptable not to be ok?

Getting a tattoo has been on my bucket list for years, and in all honesty, I’ve never been quite ready, unsure about what I would get and if I could stand the pain. If it weren’t for the fact that I despise needles and sometimes faint at the sight of blood, I would have loved to have become a nurse, but alas, here we are. About a month ago, a few of my closest friends started talking about getting one, and the timing just felt right.

I vividly remember being at a 40th birthday party for a relative when I was a kid and thought to myself, “Wow, 40 is really old.” Many of the gifts given at this party were gag gifts that included Depends underwear, a cane with a horn and flashing lights, and insanely large glasses to help with failing eyesight.

We all have a limited amount of time on this earth. As we go about our daily activities, careers, and raising families, each day slowly ticks by. Some people keep a very keen eye on the time they have left and some don’t ponder it at all. Many times for me, with each person in my world that passes away, I get a jolt of sorts. That jolt usually sends me into a thought tunnel of how precious life really is and how quickly it can change, and I often find myself reevaluating life, my priorities, and vowing to live life more fully. When a life does come to an end, there are an insane amount of things to think about.

At the end of the last day of the garage sale, my brain was packed full of stories. The stories of strangers. Whom I somehow formed a split second bond about life with. Strangers who trusted ME to share their truth. Their struggles. Their triumphs. Their LIFE. How special is that? And what’s even crazier is this: had they not shared their stories with me, I would have had NO idea. Each person seemingly carried themselves well. They appeared to be put together. Just a normal day of hitting a few garage sales and spending time outdoors. And one card opened a door to a bond that may never been. It started a conversation. Important conversations.

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I’ve realized over the past few years that there is a very big constant in life that not many people talk about. Life changes. It evolves daily. Things happen. Some good, some bad, some beautiful, and some painful. The big constant is called pivoting. We all do it at one point or another and you’re probably doing it much more than you think you are as you go about your daily life.

I would not trade being a Mom for anything in this world, but for me, being a parent is a freaking hot mess most days. It is a crazy combination of beautiful chaos every single day. Some days I’m crushing it and make my kids an actual breakfast, but some days they eat leftover pizza or spaghetti for breakfast. There are days that I ask them to put on regular clothes, but other days they stay in their jammies the entire day. Sometimes I can empathetically help them clean up the entire jug of milk that they purposely spilled on the floor, and other times I yell at them out of sheer frustration.

I think everyone can agree that the pandemic brought both positives AND negatives to our lives, no matter what your overall viewpoint on the subject is. We were all learning as we went, doing the best we could with the information we had at the time, as we tried to navigate all that life was throwing at us. For me, it kind of felt like dodging bird poop as a flock of geese flew overhead.

I don’t know why, but we have this unrealistic expectation that we always have to keep going. To get up when life knocks you down. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree with some of that. But I think we also need to be more accepting of taking space to sit with what has knocked you down. Not to let it overtake us forever, but to sit with it. To process it. To allow ourselves the space to work through it. And then get back up.

We are all born with a built-in family. Each family looks a little different from the next. You might be insanely close with your family, or perhaps you don’t have any communication with them at all. You may have 10 brothers and sisters or you’re an only child. Maybe you have two Mom’s or your parents are divorced. Your extended family may live with you or you may be one of the last people in your family that is still standing.

We've all seen it. At the grocery store. A restaurant. The airport. The toy aisle at Aldi, Walmart or Target. The park. Church. The list goes on and on. I’m talking about the public places that children decide to have a tantrum (a.k.a. big feelings) for one reason or another.

Anyone out there know how to grieve “properly,” or know how to cope with a traumatic experience in the “right way?” Nope. Me neither. Is it really even possible to grieve or cope “properly?”

Many of us as humans have a place in this world that holds a significantly special spot in our hearts. For some, it might be a childhood home or a family lake house. For others, it might be at the top of a mountain, in a boat, at church, the golf course or even at a blackjack table in Las Vegas.