Grace over Guilt

Listen to the Audio

 

Read the Transcript

Hi, I'm so happy you're here.

You may notice that this audio sounds a little bit different than normal. Rather than our normal calm music, you may hear car sounds in the background. That’s because I am, in fact, recording this as I’m driving on the highway.

I’ve been trying to record an audio for two weeks, and every day I have had a different idea. Then, every day by the end of the day, I’m too tired to actually sit down and make the audio.

So, I'm doing it while I'm in motion in hopes that A. it resonates with you, especially at the end of summer almost beginning of fall when things seem to pick back up and get busy again. And B. to talk about something I’ve noticed over the past couple of weeks that bothers me and I know bothers other people, too.

Last week I encountered an emergency on Monday. It's fine now, and everything is resolved - me and my boys are safe - but it took a lot of physical and emotional work to resolve last week. So, I missed my normal content routine for Capturing Your Confidence, and then this week I’m moving back to my hometown of Fort Wayne, IN. If you've moved recently (or at all) you probably remember that moving is hectic. There's a lot involved.

As I have these ideas I think, “Oh, this would be a really great audio recording,” but I haven’t seemed to be able to pinpoint any of them when I actually do have a moment to record. That’s probably relatable even if you're not moving. There's back to school right now with the kiddos, and everything else.

During this time, I’ve had this nagging sense of guilt that comes with having all of these ideas and not being able to execute on them. There's this feeling badness of me wanting to share more and me wanting to do more with you, the women I work with, but physically and mentally being pulled in so many different directions that I can't do as much as I want in the present moment.

That feeling is something we feel a lot of times. This past couple of weeks, as things have been particularly out-of-control feeling, I noticed that I’ve had to remind myself a lot that our best my best is enough.

The message that I have for you and the work that I do in hopes to help other women with chronic illness and high sensitivity isn't negatively impacted by the fact that I have to deal with real life because that's what we're all doing.

I'm not gonna fib and say that I still don't feel a little bit bad because I do, and I’m so excited to keep working - especially because all of these ideas are so natural and they're so exciting! But I also recognize that these things take time. That's not something I used to be able to recognize before I got diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in the fall of 2022, which is really when I started trying to build my slower more mindful lifestyle.

This is a brief reminder today that if you need to step away from a goal or something you can't wait to work on because you don't have the energy. Or, you don't have - in the corporate world we say you don't have the bandwidth - but if you don't have the brain space, it's okay. It will still be there, and if you’re working on something for an audience like a business or a book you're writing or an art project you're trying to complete, whatever it might be, those people will still be there when you're able to work on it.

I would like to think that most people are more understanding than not when it comes to adults being busy in their lives, doing all the things we have to do like taking care of the house, taking care of the bills, taking care of partners, family members, kids, pets, working. We wish that we could do only the things we love and everything else would be taken care of, but that's just not the reality. It's especially hard when you're already dealing with a lower starting point of energy.

I don't have any any main character advice for you today other than it really is okay to be kind to yourself and it's okay if you have to remind yourself multiple times or it feels like you're reminding yourself a lot. I know that happens to me (clearly), so you're not the only one. Things will settle. For some of us that might be a little bit longer than others.

The more you practice telling yourself that it's okay to move at your own pace and that you don't have to overextend yourself, the more your body will fully embrace it. You’ll start being able to do things like lay down for 30 minutes because it's so hot and you are doing so many physical things that you're exhausted by the middle of the day.

I hope that whatever you need today, if you need a break or extra time to complete a task, you’ll give yourself a little bit of grace and remind yourself that you are doing your best and that's enough.

Talk to you soon.🩷


What Next

Write yourself a reminder or repeat the affirmation/mantra, “My best is enough.”

Sign up for the Where Gentle Grows newsletter, a weekly pause with inspiration, tools, and resources to help you build the slower lifestyle you crave

Grab the free guide Confidence that Doesn’t Cost Your Energy: 5 Tiny Shifts to Help You Build Lasting Self-Trust Gently (On Your Terms).

Next
Next

Permission to Rest