Skip to content

Giving In

2013 April 23
by WWGD

Screen Shot 2013-04-23 at 11.06.12 AM

“I can’t get sick.”

“I can’t miss this call.”

“I have to make this meeting.”

“I need to be at a school thing.”

“We can’t be late for drop off.”

“I have to make dinner.”

But what if you didn’t?

What if you let your body get sick? Treated it to a whole day – maybe even two – in bed with nothing but Ina Garten reruns, a stack of magazines and a cup of hot tea?

What if you missed the call (with a little advanced notice, of course) and opted for a tiny bit of free time in your day instead?

What if you skipped the meeting and let your co-worker fill you in?

What if you opted out of volunteering for the parent committee this once and someone else picked up the slack?

If you wandered into class five minutes late and slightly (but not really) disrupted circle time, buying yourself a few extra moments of peace at home?

What if you ordered pizza?

Here’s the truth: 2013 hasn’t been all that good to me thus far. I have been battling seemingly endless health issues (nothing too serious, thankfully, but still annoying enough to disrupt my day-to-day), my work has been more unpredictable than I prefer, goals seem unattainable, friends are going through rough times, there is a general “bad day” vibe that I can’t seem to shake, no matter what day it is.

And I realized that I haven’t been giving in enough.

This supermom/woman/career gal thing is amazing and inspiring and fun…and exhausting. And sometimes, I need to learn how to take the super out of the equation and just be a mom/woman/career gal of normal proportions. One who gets sick and skips a workout, who opts for pizza over veggie stir fry, who says no to a project when she should maybe say yes but she knows it’s a no, who waltzes into the school art show…without having volunteered one minute of her time.

I think it’s admirable and exciting that we are all striving for more in our lives than women ever have. I love wanting it all and (most days) having it all and I truly believe women have the means and the knowledge and the drive today to get it all.

But some days, it’s nice to strive for a little less. To opt out. To give in a little more.

I think it’s the only way to keep yourself sane and healthy and grounded. I think it’s the only way you can really balance everything, have fun and find happiness.

I think if you just give in once in a while, you might get back so much more.

So tonight, my friends, there will be takeout.

*image above via here*

19 Responses
  1. stella permalink
    April 23, 2013

    I hear you so loudly. We need to do this once in awhile and we need to know that it’s okay. Thanks for the reminder.

  2. Linda permalink
    April 23, 2013

    For the last few weeks I’ve taken a few hours a day to watch a flick during nap time instead of work/clean/file/answer emails/find child care/help out and check up on friends and the world kept turning, deadlines were still made, I made a tiny bit less money and was in a much better mood over our frozen pizza family dinner. Going into high season I’ll probably do less of that, but I’m still plan on stressing less! Hope things start looking up for you.

  3. addie permalink
    April 23, 2013

    I took a day off work this Friday to do absolutely nothing. No cleaning, no laundry, no meetings, no conference calls.

  4. April 23, 2013

    OMG I’m not even a mom and I’m like A-MEN gurl.

    • WWGD permalink*
      May 11, 2013

      Ha ha, thanks Brittany 😉

  5. Kaly permalink
    April 24, 2013

    I love this. I truly believe that it’s in the space where we are not trying to do it all perfectly that we bump into the magical moments that really define our lives. Good for you for listening to yourself and doing what is best for you right now outside of all the “shoulds.” I feel like this is the place that so many women get stuck and stressed. Plus, I really don’t think it’s giving in, if it makes your life and your family’s life better. It’s more like re-calibrating.

    • Kaly permalink
      April 24, 2013

      Hi it’s me again – I realized that it was kind of weird for me to just pop in and comment on your blog without even introducing myself. But I was so excited by your post and how close it felt to my own life that I totally forgot the pleasantries. So, hi, I’m Kaly. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile and really love it. I follow a lot of blogs but yours is one of the few that I actually take the time to read (except for GOOP of course) on a regular basis. Keep the good stuff comin’….

      • WWGD permalink*
        May 11, 2013

        Thanks for the intro, Kaly! And for commenting, do it more often, I love it. 😉

  6. April 24, 2013

    I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve been in the same place- not taking the best care of myself and ending up sick more often than I’d like in favor of doing All The Things- the working, mothering, cleaning, cooking– things that in good proportions bring me much joy, but in unbalanced doses can really burn me out. I tell my self often that this is just a season. Having little ones is happy chaos. It will calm down one day–but I need to take better care of myself so that I make it that long!! 🙂

    • WWGD permalink*
      May 11, 2013

      So very true. We need to keep ourselves happy and healthy in order to do the same for the little ones.

  7. linette permalink
    April 24, 2013

    thanks for sharing this…so true and a great reminder that we all need to let up on ourselves a bit. hope your 2013 improves!

    • WWGD permalink*
      May 11, 2013

      Thank you! Me too!

  8. April 25, 2013

    I reposted this on Fritz today. Thank you, thank you. {http://seefritz.com/2013/04/giving/}.

    • WWGD permalink*
      May 11, 2013

      Thank you, Lauren!

  9. April 26, 2013

    I love it and so, so true.

  10. April 29, 2013

    Amen. Just Amen.

    It’s an exceptionally hard lesson to learn, and I’m so glad you’re learning it (and re-learning and re-learning, if you’re anything like I am). I’m sort of dreading being away from the office in June b/c I’m on vacation – in that the world won’t keep rolling with all that I’ve built. Except that if I’ve built it well, it will. Or not. And so…I’ll go on vacation

    • WWGD permalink*
      May 11, 2013

      Yes! Learning and relearning and relearning…so very true.

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. find the extra | just a bit, really
  2. Friday Favorites 4.26 | Sunshine and the Bear

Comments are closed.