It seems that just when you think that you couldn’t possibly handle one more thing, the universe throws something else at you to prove you wrong. That has been my week. Actually that has been my month.
Let’s Do it All
As women, and especially as mothers, we feel the need to be able to do it all. I’m not sure if women have felt this way since our cave-woman days, or if this is something that modern moms are pressuring ourselves into. While we are capable of dealing with an amazing quantity of things at once, somedays it does just become too much.
The Last Straw
I have had some weird, thankfully not life threatening, health issues since turning 30 in January (which makes me love 30 even less!) After days of waiting for my doctor to call with my latest results, her nurse finally calls me on Monday telling me I need to see a new specialist. As I am talking to her on my mobile, my office phone rings and it is my son’s teacher. Apparently my cherub angel of a son and another kid had been caught flipping each other off in class! Aye aye aye! And that was it. That was the straw that broke this single mama’s back.
Loosen Up Those Chains and…
There are a million and six things going on in my life right now, but that was the breaking point. That was when that Dixie Chicks song started running through my head…”Some days you gotta dance,
Live it up when you get the chance!
When the world doesn’t make no sense,
and you’re feeling just a little too tense…
You’ve gotta loosen up those chains and dance!”
Back Off, Universe!
And so that is what I did. This was the first Cinco de Mayo that I can remember where my son was with his father. So I took advantage of the opportunity. I forced myself to forget about the writing, the editing, the housework and the laundry that needed to be done, and I went out. I turned on the jukebox in a tiny bar a friend works at and I danced. By myself, with one too many margaritas behind me, I cut loose and I danced. I needed just fifteen minutes to tell the universe to back off because I needed to dance.
Take Some Time
Dancing may not be your thing, but you have something. Take that fifteen minutes. Take more than fifteen minutes. You need to do it, if for no other reason that you deserve it. Shut of your mind and let your body go on autopilot. Find what gives you that satisfaction and release that dancing gives me, and take time to do it. I promise you feel so much better after wards!
About Brooke
Brooke Billings is a single mom of an awesome 9 year old boy navigating the worlds of parenthood, dating and writing. Brooke is the editor of Single Parent magazine, and co-founder of ModernSingleParents.net, a revolutionary new social network for single parents. Brooke is also a featured expert writer on multiple single parent websites. As a child raised mostly by a single parent, Brooke is passionate about supporting single parents and helping single parents realize their potential. Brooke has been co-parenting her 9 year old son with his father since 2002, and is happy to be in a place where the relationships are enjoyable for everyone involved. Brooke and her son enjoy the blessings of living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, as well as urban adventures and entertaining friends and family.
