You Are Extraordinary

You Are Extraordinary

Heidi here, and yep, I’m just an ordinary mom. I wish I could tell you that I was extraordinary, but honestly, I’m just a regular person living my life day-to-day and trying to become better each step of the way. One thing I can tell you is that I have a mad love for husband (he’s the best truly and I’m a lucky lady); and my children are my world. And you know what? I’m pretty sure they think I’m extraordinary and that is enough for me. Taking care of a family of six keeps me busy… like real busy. I mean, the house is constantly messy, I feel like I spend half my day in the kitchen cooking and the other half on laundry. Oh the laundry, it is a daily chore. Then there are extracurricular activities, which I love, and think are important, but man-oh-man; loading up 4 kids to go to swim lessons or basketball games or gymnastics is a monster in itself.

I am living my dream. Truly, when I was little I always just wanted to be a mom and wife but some days are just hard. In fact, some weeks are hard, especially in the winter. Last week was a tough week for me. I missed my husband, I missed our companionship, I missed his help with the kids, I missed warm weather where the kids could play outside, I missed our families who live 1500 miles away. It seemed like every Instagram friend was on vacation enjoying warm weather with their families and I wanted to enjoy warm weather with my family! The good news is that it is a new week and a new start. It is ok to have a bad day or a few of them because how can I appreciate the good without the bad. That being said, one bad day can go a LONG way in helping you to appreciate the good days. Of course, I would much rather have a lot of good days with only the occasional bad day thrown in here and there.  It made me think, what are the things in my life that contribute to my happiness and what are the things that bring me down. What sorts of things can I control to help increase the number of good days and mitigate the occurrence of bad days? Here’s my list:

Happiness

1.Waking up before my kids and having a little me time. Whether that is working out, reading scriptures, cleaning my bathrooms (I seriously do this), paying bills, showering, etc. It doesn’t matter what I do, I am more mentally prepared to be a parent that day and my day goes better.

2.Eating Healthy. Shocker I know. Honestly I notice a significant difference in my patience level with my children when I am eating healthy foods. I have more energy to accomplish the goals I hope to complete and I feel good about myself.

3.Completing one house project. I don’t have the time to clean my house in a day so I do something everyday. Clean the bathrooms, Dust, vacuum, mop, mow the lawn, sweep the garage, clean the playroom, sanitize toys. If I do at least one a day I call that a win.

4.Go to bed at a decent time. If I want to wake up before my kids I need to make sure I go to bed at a decent time so I can have enough sleep and energy for the next day. One thing I do to reach this goal is not looking at my cell phone in bed, this helps tremendously.

Brings me down

1.Waking up and looking at my phone. Instagram, facebook, emails. If I look at my phone before I have even gotten out of my bed it makes me lazy. Definitely not a good way to start my day.

2.Eating Pancakes. May sound funny, but starting off the day with a sugary breakfast makes me crash and burn fast. It’s a bummer because I love pancakes. Confession: I have started my day off with candy, like a handful of m&m’s. It’s a bad move every time.

3.Facebook and Instagram. I know that I have already mentioned the two of these but they I think it is important to mention them again. Spending too much time on these takes my motivation away. Also, I think it is wise to think twice about following certain people. Are they motivating? Do I feel better or worse after their posts? Do I compare my life to theirs? Follow people that after you look at their posts you feel happy, not envious.

What uplifts you and makes you happy? What brings you down? I challenge you to take a deeper look into your life. Choose happy, choose to do the things that motivate you to be a better mom, a better wife, a better friend. Be kind to yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. Love your children because they think you are extraordinary and that is all that matters.