I’ve said before that I haven’t been feeling well lately and that I had a difficult doctor’s appointment last week. It’s resulted in feeling tired and, sometimes, unmotivated. I’ve been trying to balance giving myself space and time to rest and just forging on.
When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at age 13, my rheumatologist told my mom, “She’s going to be tired and in pain no matter where she is, so you may as well send her back to school.” It was good advice—I had to return to my normal life, and that return to normalcy also made me feel a little bit better.
It’s advice that I’ve tried to follow ever since then, though of course there are times when I need more rest than others. But, as a mother and a business leader, sometimes, you just have to do the thing tired. My daughter needs to be fed and changed and loved regardless of how I feel, and my husband has a full-time job and can’t always help. When I lost my grandfather last fall, the grief led to exhaustion like I hadn’t felt anymore, but the fact that I had a family to take care of helped me get back on my feet.
What steps can you take today to give yourself rest if needed—and do the thing tired if that’s what you’re being called to do? And how can you care for yourself while you’re doing it? My step is getting back into a habit of a daily meditation on Hallow.
Content I’ve Liked This Week:
I’ve always been an overachiever—and that’s not a humble brag; it’s an admission of pride. High achievement is good; overextending yourself is unhealthy. Coach and podcaster Mandy Lehto wrote a great article for Fast Company on how to know which side of the line you’re falling on.
If you’re struggling with why God is allowing some kind of suffering or difficult time in your life, this Walking With Purpose blog post holds the answer.
For a fun, lighthearted read, check out this Washington Post article on the mystery dolls that moved into a couple’s mailbox.
The MIT Technology Review published an article on a groundbreaking brain surgery performed on an unborn baby—who was born soon after and is doing well! Truly amazing.
My friend
published a free Substack newsletter about Mother’s Day and the joy or sorrow (and sometimes both) many women experience on it.I was delighted to see this description of what Catholics would call “spiritual motherhood” in In Kind’s newsletter (free subscription required to read).
Shout out to my friend
for recommending this Verily article on thrift and romance! What a great perspective.
Books I’m Reading:
I can’t make it to this month’s Well-Read Mom meeting, and I’m thinking of giving up on Remains of the Day*. Any fellow WRM members recommend sticking with it?
We checked out A Violin for Elva* (written by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Tricia Tusa) from the library and read it to our daughter. The story and illustrations were both delightful!
*affiliate link