For too long, I’ve been dictated by someone else’s rules. And I’ve been sad. I’ve been sick. I’ve been lonely. I’ve been resentful.  And I’ve been stuck. 

I thought I was doing the right thing. My intentions were pure. I wanted to protect my children from experiencing any hurt in their lives. I wanted to give them the best life ever. I never declined any of their demands. I lost myself trying to achieve the impossible goal of supermom. I was burned out and lost. 

I needed to find strength to allow self-love. Disrupting the status quo to make myself a priority is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. 

I worried so much about doing right by my children that I lost myself. I haven’t done right by me in decades. I over-mommied to the point of self-destruction. I’ve got to make myself a priority or I won’t be able to mommy at all. 

You’ve got to rate yourself high or you have nothing to give others. It sounds silly, but I’m living proof that being The Giving Tree isn’t appreciated by anyone. Instead, you become a depleted shell of a person. It’s so hard to know where to begin caring for yourself. I started with sleep. Getting ample rest is the beginning of my restoration. Motherhood shouldn’t equal servitude.