Celebrating The Small Things

Those of you that know me know that I'm a big user of checklists. I love the feeling of checking things off my list, it gives me that sense and joy of accomplishment. In the past 5 and a half weeks my checklist has been non-existant since having Iyla and I haven't been feeling the best about myself. It's like a part of me is missing! After talking this out with Kevin, he had me look at my situation as if I was a client who came to me for coaching, and asked me "how would you coach a client that was experiencing the same thing?"

PERSPECTIVES! Once hearing Kevin lay it out so simply, I quickly got into my own head and started looking at the situation from different perspectives. One of the perspectives I explored and decided to keep in mind was that of my boxer dog Kaiser. How would Kaiser perceive this dilemma? Kaiser is so cheery and happy-go-lucky on every walk. Each time he catches a new scent, feels the freedom of the outdoors, hears his surroundings, and encounters other animals, his ears perk up and little tail starts wagging! This allowed me to look and appreciate the small things by shifting my focus towards the process rather than the outcome. Taking the time to take a deep breath, appreciate the 'small stuff', and acknowledge myself for the challenges at hand.

The 'small stuff' I've celebrated includes:

• Brushing my teeth, showering and having clothes on before 11am 
• Iyla smiling
• Having visitors over
• Cooking and/or baking a meal for others
• Small trips out of the house (this week included visiting my old team at lululemon)
• Getting a thirty minute span of reading in
• Working out 
• Cleaning 
• Catching up on guilty pleasure shows (Currently this includes 'Camp', 'The Amazing Race' and 'PLL')

In an effort to combine both my love for lists and sense of accomplishment, my husband and I devised a schedule for keeping our home in check. This checklist is meant only as a guide and should we stumble across 10-15mins of free time in our day, we have a blackboard of tasks to-be-done that maintains our sanity and home. Sometimes doing only one thing a day can make a difference both internally and externally. 

Overall, in becoming a new mom it's about setting and celebrating small victories, no matter how small or how seemingly unimportant. There is no shame in staying in pj's all day (This has been my Sundays as of late). My husband still loves me AND kisses me, even if I don't brush my teeth. The world keeps on turning.

Motherhood is a journey, and I believe that I will learn more from Iyla than she may ever learn from me. That in itself is such a humbling and rewarding notion.