I lived a life for many years waiting for tomorrow.
Tomorrow I'll start running.
Tomorrow I'll call that friend.
Tomorrow I'll read that book.
Tomorrow I'll tackle that room.
Tomorrow I'll speak up.
Tomorrow I'll try out for that part.
Tomorrow I'll plan that trip.
Tomorrow I'll take time for me.
Tomorrow, when the kids are grown, is really what I was
telling myself.
Tomorrow, when the kids are grown, I'll really take time for
myself because only then do I think I'm worth taking the time.
Tomorrow when all the things that need to get fixed will I
do all the things that need me to be brave. That's also what I was really
telling myself. It's not easy to admit those lost myself kind of thoughts. We
tuck them behind guilt and yet, when asked, those are the moments where the
tears well up in one's eyes.
Living for tomorrow means that you think you will have many tomorrows.
Here's the real truth: It means, at some level, you believe
your life is invincible.
Humbling, isn't it? I so quickly forget that truth until
those moments where it's smack in my face. Maybe it's easier to live without
that urgency. Maybe we get caught up in the frenzy of life.
What, just what happens, if you stop with the excuse of the perpetual
tomorrow and you start living today? What will you teach your kids then? You
won't teach them that a mom gives up on her dreams and her passions and gets
burnt out. You will teach them that it is just as noble and just as wise to not
forget you.
Remember when you were young? The dreams, the possibilities,
the excitement of when you were grown?
Don't lose that. This is your now.
Sometimes we just get so busy and so bogged down by life
that all of that seems foolish, unwise and if there isn't the time. Trust me.
You are worth the time.
I know you have dreams. I also know you have dishes. I know
you have hopes. I also know you have kids who either rebel or throw up or don't
want the shirt with the lion on front and you are late and don't want to deal
with changing it or well, you get the picture.
You are a mom. (You are a dad, emphasis added).
But, dear sister (and
brother), just because you are a mom (or
dad) does not mean that you get a
pass on yourself.
You don't get to quit taking care of you.
You don't get to wait until tomorrow to find your spark
again.
You get now.
Sometimes it will mean tough stuff. It means looking at all
the excuses that you have built and deciding to go the other way. It might mean
giving up something to gain something better.
But you are worth your tomorrow today.
You are worth living with vibrancy and excitement.
Don't worry. It's not going mean that you deny being a mom,
buy a plane ticket and fly to Europe. It simply means that you will remember
you with the same tenacity that you remember your kids. I bet your kids
doctor's appointments are up to date and you make sure they eat well and have a
good education. That goes for you too.
Not tomorrow.
Today.
So I challenge you, wait, I dare you—to do one thing today
that is about you finding you, finding joy or just makes you happy. I dare you
to start living today like it was your tomorrow. No excuses, no putting you
last, no more waiting.
You see, if you burn out, what good are you to everyone
around you who needs you?
Ponder that.
Live today doing everything you put off for tomorrow.
I dare you.
—by Rachel Martin
