I had a rough day last week. After a series of events that left me feeling absolutely defeated, I laid on my kitchen floor and cried my eyes out. It was a full on “I’m a horrible mother, I suck at everything and I’m just a giant failure” kind of cry. You know the kind? Well, it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was one of the worst days I’ve had in a while. So what do you do when you have a bad day? What do you do when you feel like a worthless peace of crap? What do you do when you doubt yourself and contemplate quitting? What do you do when you feel like the worst Mom? You buy tomatoes and cucumbers, obviously.
My daughter woke up at 5 am screaming cries of absolute horror. It was very unlike her, so we blamed it on teething. Teething; dare I say that teething is almost worse than the newborn phase? I may regret saying that but in this moment, that’s what I feel and believe. Teething is the cause of parents all over the world losing their damn minds. Teething results in bad days, bad attitudes, bad choices, bad sleeping, bad eating habits, bad crying fits and bad tempers from all parties involved. So, teething is happening in our house and last week, when my daughter woke up earlier than normal, I had a feeling it was going to be a rough day. But I was determined to, “manifest the day”, so I wrote down a list of reasonable and attainable goals for myself. The list consisted of buying tomatoes and cucumbers (big manifestation happening, obviously). I kept the goals short, sweet and simple but by the time 2 pm rolled around, these goals seemed like the most far fetched and unrealistic ideas I’ve ever come up with. I was drowning in dishes, crumbs, baby food, baby tears and a house that looked as if a bomb went off. I laid on my kitchen floor and cried my eyes out. If you’re wondering where my daughter was at this point, she was staring at me, laughing. I too thought I was a big joke.
As I sat there in absolute misery, I took a deep breath and thought to myself “tomatoes and cucumbers”. Tomatoes and freaking cucumbers, to the rescue! I woke up that morning convinced that it was not going to be the day. It was not going to be the day that would control me. I was the boss and I was going to send out the positive vibes into the universe, keep my head up high and achieve my goals. So I sat up off the kitchen floor, washed off the makeup that I hadn’t cried off, packed up my daughter in the van and achieved my goals. As soon as those tomatoes and cucumbers hit the cart, I felt absolute victory. In my world, I had just won the lottery. Why? Because I just achieved the one thing I set out to do for the day. I took control of a situation that seemed absolutely out of control. I chose to turn my day around. I manifested the shit out of my day. I bought tomatoes and cucumbers.
Our daily goals don’t have to be grand. They don’t have to be these extraordinary ideas that seem out of our reach. While dreaming big is important and has it’s place, it’s those small daily goals that often set us up for success. Set those intentions for the day. Make them as big or as small as you like, but set them so that they’re attainable for you in that moment. We all have bad days, but it’s how we choose to handle those bad days that makes us stronger. For every big goal, set a small one. Wake up 1 hour earlier than the kids, shower, put on a face mask, try a new recipe, clean out a cupboard, donate clothes, leave for work earlier to avoid traffic, buy tomatoes and cucumbers. Whatever it is, set those goals, keep them small and achievable and you’ll find yourself feeling like you’ve just wont the lottery too.
Leave a Reply