Wow.  We women are overworked, aren’t we?

If I had the “overworked and exhausted” conversation once, I had it 15 times last week with all sorts of friends in all walks of life.  Seems this phenomenon is not just limited to me. Which,is good to know. (Heh! I’m not crazy!)

It is so easy just to give in to exhaustion, isn’t it?  To let the world whip you into submission and leave you there for dead. Friends, Don’t you dare. It is in that very moment of exhaustion that you need to make the decision if you will be victorious or defeated.  It is in that moment when you define your spirit.

I know this from experience, of course.  I haven’t always won the battles but I have never admitted defeat.  When my life gets overwhelming and my  to-do list looks more like a novel than a Post-it note, I dig in deep and stand my ground.

It reminds me of marathon training.  Months of scheduling and training.  Looking at the calendar and the mileage and thinking, “There is no way I will be able to do an 18 mile training run. No way!”  And yet, I did.  One step at a time. Literally.

The last marathon I ran had me plodding away for 3 1/2 hours in the rain.  We had less than an hour’s worth of sunlight.  Then my knees gave out at mile 23.  Both of them. At the same time.  But I kept going.  I was determined to stand my ground. And I got that medal, dammit!

You are probably shaking your head right now, aren’t you?  Thinking you can’t relate? Don’t get the wrong impression, I’m no different than any other overworked person out there.  I just didn’t give up. I gave the extra effort, even when I didn’t want to because I had a goal.

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe, writer

If you need a little extra encouragement, I strongly suggest you take a moment to watch the 212 – The Extra Degree video.  One extra degree of effort can make all the difference in your world.  Be it your business, your relationships or your blog.  I dare you to come away from viewing this video unmotivated!

You ever catch a conversation between your children that makes you want to laugh out loud?  Or perhaps makes you wince because you are anticipating your future teenager and/or therapy bill?

Happens to me all the time, I swear.  Thought I would share this little ditty overheard from the back seat of my car yesterday:

Young Jedi to Tiny Ninja – “There is only one rule that I follow, dude:  There ARE NO RULES.  And sometimes I don’t follow THAT one.  But it is okay, it’s how I roll.”

I think I am in trouble.

There was a period of time in my life (back in the 90s) where I was a tad obsessed with France.  The French, it seemed to me, always had some mystery about them that I could not quite sum up.  I was, quite literally, fascinated and I spent a lot of time studying French literature, cinema and art.

It was a fad, I guess.

Fast forward to present day and me weeding through my old collection of books for a Goodwill donation.  (I have SO MANY.  Some have got to go.  Or I might be facing divorce.) In the process I found this a passage that I had highlighted  describing a French woman:

“She is entirely and unequivocally self-contained.  She is focused on living her own full life, following her own agenda, and cultivating her actual self, rather than reinventing herself or pining away to be someone she is not. Throughout her life she invests herself in learning and experiencing, not to CHANGE who she is but to BECOME more fundamentally and more fully who she TRULY is.” – Entre Nous – A Woman’s Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier

WORDS OF WISDOM, eh,  my friends?

I have always believed that we should all be working unapologetically towards our own destiny. Who cares if it does not fit the mold or isn’t the norm?  It is only when we cultivate our authentic self that we are happy.  I’ve learned this the hard way, believe me.  I am at my most unbalanced and miserable when I am trying to fit myself into something I am not or when I succumb to the pressures and preconceived notions of the world.

I might not give those books away after all.

Every week I set out to bring you something profound for WITTY WEDNESDAY. Something to inspire. Something to make you feel good.  You know, something WITTY. (Duh, right?) And then each week one my my little guys say something so damn cute that I just have to post it.  Ah, well!

So last night my ten year old (Tiny Ninja) and I were praying before he went to bed.  We do this every night together.

So during the course of the conversation, I asked him if he ever thought about God during the school day.  I assured him that if he had a hard time or ever needed help during school that all he would need to do would be to say a prayer and God would be with him.

He said, “I know that mamma. He sends those big angels to be with me.”

Me, “You mean guardian angels?”

Tiny Ninja, “Yeah the ones that are beside my bed right now.  You know, the ones you are squishing!?”  (He was dead serious, folks.)

Me, “Oh, am I?”

Tiny Ninja, “Don’t squish the angels Mamma. They don’t like it.”

So there you have it.  Words of wisdom from Tiny Ninja – “Don’t squish the guardian angels. They don’t like it.” 

Duly noted son.

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You know I found a fun interview with Audrey Hepburn the other day and as I was reading through it I came across this quote from her:

” I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”

It got me thinking of the simple things that bring us joy.  So, just for fun, I decided to compile my own Audrey-type  list.  What is on yours?

THINGS I BELIEVE IN:

Fairies
Laughing so hard that you pee your pants
Pink hair
Santa Clause and the magic of Christmas
Dancing without insecurity or care
That swinging can erase all of life’s troubles
That all people are inherently good, decent and kind
That every day brings a new opportunity for joy
That there is magic in even the smallest things
That love is the answer to everything

I came across some of the loveliest passages yesterday that really just spoke to me. The phrases came from a book  called Dance While You Can by Lance Wubbel.

I cannot tell you how many people I speak to who complain about hectic scheduling, unattainable job demands, sparse time with their loved ones and even smaller amounts of time spent on their faith and self-renewal.  Although these passages were not intended in this way, I believe they read more like a pledge to one’s self.  What do YOU think?

I will not stand to the side and allow the music in my heart to fade away and die.

I will slow down. I will put limits on my commitments and work and make certain that those whom I love remain first in my life.

I will quiet my soul… silence the noise in my head and heart and ask myself what I really want out of life.

I will make the necessary changes in my life to ensure that I am truly living consistently with what  I know to be in my heart and what I say I believe in.

I will remember that money is only material, that titles and positions mean little but that who I am is what really matters.

I will not allow the pressures that bear down upon our lives to get wedged between us and keep us apart.

A few precious words that really say it all.  I don’t know about you, but I could really use this reminder from time to time.

I came across a couple of quotes recently and it struck me that they were not only good advice for children, but also sage advice for mommies in the workforce.

Thought I would share:

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin to Pooh

“You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” - Winnie the Pooh

“If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” – Winnie the Pooh

Truer words were never spoken, huh?  This mommy is going to try to remember them when she has a bad day.

A bit of wisdom for your weekend:

“Don’t give up on what you want MOST for what you want at the present moment.”

Or in my case  – “Back away from the Twinkie!”

I got such a good response from last week’s “Inspiration Thursday” that I decided to make this a permanent feature.

This week’s inspirational musings:

• Do. Or do not. There is no try. — Yoda
• All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal or fattening. – Alexander Wollcott
• Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden
• Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish. – Albert Einstein
• Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality. – Anon (Submitted by my pal Gail Richards. Love it!)
• Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. – Abraham Lincoln

I’ve mentioned before that I am a quote collector. The right quote at the right time is it takes to get me through the day. (Besides alcohol, I mean. I’m still new at my job but I am pretty sure that drinking alcohol at my desk would be a career limiting move.)

Here are a couple of goodies to get you through YOUR day:

We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. – Brigham Young

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.  - Dale Carnegie

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Anonymous

The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done. - Allard Lowenstein, twentieth-century American diplomat

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. – Matthew 7:7-8 (see also verses 9 -12)