Making Life Work for You

 Sometimes we have so many responsibilities in our lives, ranging from work obligations to caring for children to running a household, that we feel we cannot possibly make it all work. We may feel overwhelmed in the face of it all, ending each day feeling hopelessly behind schedule. However, regardless of how frustrating this can be, these are the parameters that make up our lives, and we owe it to ourselves to find a way to make it work.

Like the president of a large organization, we must first realize that we cannot do every job ourselves. The first step to sanity is learning how to delegate some of the responsibility to other people, whether that means paying someone to clean our house or trading childcare duties with another parent. In addition, we might find places where we can shift our expectations in ways that make our lives easier. For example, expecting ourselves to create a healthy, home-cooked meal every night after a full day of work, errands, or caring for a child may be a bit excessive. We might allow ourselves to order food once in a while without any guilt. Accepting the adjustments needed to make our lives work is an essential ingredient to being at peace with our situation.

At the end of the day, we must come to terms with changing what we can and accepting what we cannot change. Sometimes the laundry piles up, a sick child demands more of our attention than usual, and we temporarily get behind with our schedule. When we trust in our ability to get our life back on track when the time is right, we gracefully let go of perfectionism and accept and embrace our life as it is. (Daily OM)