65% of us are somewhat or very likely to swear at something in the morning. You are not alone… and you don’t have to do it all.
I once interviewed one hundred mothers from seventeen countries around the world. The one thing they had in common was that they believed everyone else had it together and they didn’t. I’m not sure if you can relate to that but I certainly can.
The media sends us messages of women who have it all. We’re told to Lean In. To do more. That now, in this generation, we can be and do anything we set out to be and do. And yes, it’s true that we as a microgeneration of women have opportunities that our mothers and grandmothers only dreamt of.
But can we have it all? Can we do it all? Or does something, somewhere along the line, have to give?
My eldest son was nine months old and I was pregnant with my second when I was offered the career opportunity of a lifetime. I was working at one of the leading Investment Banks in South Africa and was offered the corner office I had been working towards for more than a decade. My dream job arrived just when I had the privilege of becoming a mother and I knew deep down, even if I didn’t admit it to myself or any-one else, that I couldn’t do both in the way I would have liked to.
This was the start of a significant journey for me. One that involved interviewing one hundred mothers from seventeen countries around the world, starting the world’s first Working Mothers Expo and finally writing a life changing time management course for working mothers, which I run privately as well as at various Corporates.
So many of us believe we have one purpose for our lives.
We believe that we have once chance and one opportunity and that we need to either grab it or miss out.
I don’t believe that’s true.
I believe that there are seasons in your life. You will have seasons when you have two kids under two (or three under three!) and that all you’ll be able to do is to try to survive without causing yourself or your family too much damage! You will live for a moment with half a cup of tea that isn’t cold yet and the day (a far-off dream) that all your kids will sleep through the night.
But that season will not last forever. Crazy seasons go SO fast… we need to cherish those moments with our kids as much as we can when they are little because once they get bigger those times are gone.
But as they get bigger new opportunities open up too.
My boys are five and six now and they are just absolutely amazing. I’m enjoying every single moment with them. I’m loving seeing them grow, celebrating how unique and beautiful their personalities are and just experiencing life with these little people who put the importance of everything else in context.
Things are so very different now compared to when I had two kids under two.
What about you? Are you in the trenches right now with two kids under two or three under three…? Are you starting to enjoy the freedom and stability that comes with kids attending school in the morning? What Season are you in?
Do you know your Seasonal Purpose?
You don’t have to do it all. Pick the right things to focus on in this season… and the next.