Showing posts with label self esteem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self esteem. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

A momentary lapse.



Some days I am up, some days I am down. Some weeks I fly at a hundred miles per hour, other weeks, well... I crawl. This is just how I am.

I have always had large bursts of motivation and inspiration...both creatively and just generally, when these bursts come they can last for a few days, a few weeks or even a few months. I am like a positive steam train, chugging along with my load in tow. No stopping, no hesitating... Just steaming along, quickly and productively. Then, My steam seems to fade and I start to slow. Sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a few weeks. I begin to crawl along dragging my load with resentment and struggle, until I find that steam again. This is just how I am.

Wouldn't it be lovely to always have balance within ourselves? To balance our energies and emotions so that no extreme ever took hold, and a happy medium of travelling was achieved. It would be lovely, but the reality is some of us rarely reach a happy medium and maintain it.

I've recently exerted all the positive energies I had waiting to be harnessed within. I spent weeks and weeks with to-do lists coming out of my ears. I was blogging daily, cleaning daily, baking daily and crafting daily. I was researching toddler development and adjusting our routines to best suit Stellas current learning patterns, I was creating new, fun and exciting activities for her and scheduling them in like clockwork. My manicure matched my pedicure and the bed was always crisply made. I was moving furniture, spring cleaning wardrobes, stocktaking paperwork and revamping finances. I was chugging along at the speed of light. Until... I just stopped. A week ago my train stopped.

I didn't want to get out of bed, I couldn't keep up with the washing or bother to cook a meal. I didn't want to face a lunchdate and grocery shopping seemed like a challenge. An unmade bed ruined my entire day and days and nights became one and the same. I slept in trackpants, that I wore the next day and my hair didn't get removed from its unwashed topknot for a week. I guess this kind of behaviour can be seen as socially unacceptable, as lazy and unmotivated, as strange and extreme. But, I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that this is just how I am. These momentary lapses, are just that... momentary. I burn and burn until I burn out, then... I flick my light again and climb back on that train.

I recognise when my lapses occur and whilst I let them take hold for perhaps a week or two, my conscientious nature soon tries to take back to control. I seek it from within, or externally. A few close friends said to me earlier this week... " You've just got to try and refresh your perspective of why you need and want to do things and see the results that will follow". "Sometimes it's a struggle, but you've just gotta do it." I looked for my push, and I got it. So, Here I go... jumping back on my train. This is just how I am.  

Sometimes we just need to accept the way we are. Let your energies and emotions take over... even if just for a little while. Don't question it, just let it. And then seek back the control to be the best you know you can be.

What about you? Do you maintain a happy medium? Or like me, are you very high when you are up and very low when you are down?
Plenty of love,

winterlove blog natalie

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The body of a mother.

With the weather being a lot warmer, we have been swimming quite regularly. Stella has a red and white polka-dot bathing suit that is to-die-for adorable and has developed a distinct love of the pool. She shows no fear (much to her mothers fear) of splashing about and navigating the shallow children's pool until her tippytoes are stretched and she can no longer touch the bottom...she is overly confident and uber excited about it. Over-confident toddlers call for alert and also bathing suit clad mothers.
This makes me incredibly nervous. Nervous about flaunting pale skin that I have never been entirely happy or comfortable with, nervous about flaunting that awkward 'not quite a baby bump, more a bloated post Christmas stomach'. Nervous about flaunting hips and thighs that clearly show the signs of motherhood; the dreaded stretchmarks.

However, this story was soon to change.

Upon arriving at the pool, I saw children screaming with laughter and mothers smiling with approval. The most significant sight my eyes noted, was the amount of mama bodies on show. There were older mothers, younger mothers, mothers of babies, mothers of four children, mothers of grown boys. All these mothers had no body shame. They splashed without sucking tummies in or adjusting board shorts. Their bodies were just that, bodies. Vessels of life. And they were all truly beautiful. Why, when your body has not only carried you through life but harboured, nurtured and cared for another (perhaps numerous) lives would you bat an eyelid at a pretty purple stretchmark?



Being a 'younger' mother I do at times feel pressure to look like my non-parent, supermodel-esque friends. But then I have light bulb moments like this one at the local pool; We are mothers. Our bodies should be congratulated and honoured. I am learning to love the extra 10 kilos I now permanently carry since my highschool years, I look at my hips and remember my incredible journey through pregnancy not only once, but now twice. I thank my body for growing my children and appreciate what incredible achievements it has enabled me.

The body of a mother is the vessel of a life, something to celebrate. Congratulate and appreciate it for you are beautiful. 

Plenty of love...