Overcoming Adversity
Happy Saturday and Happy November, too! Even though we're already 4 days into it now! It just doesn't seem possible that it's already November. I hope you all had a great Halloween, we had SO much fun dressing up as the Toy Story gang this year! Family costumes are one of my favorite parts of having small kids who still really get into Holidays. Luckily my husband always willingly goes along with my crazy ideas, and this year our friends even joined in the fun! 😀
I always spend so much time planning events to make sure they are "perfect" that I'm typically always relieved when they are over. It's a trait I'm working on for myself, but this Halloween was no exception. I'd had costumes planned and bought for months, a list of activities, crafts, and treats to make, and thought I had covered all of my bases. But what you can't plan for is life's curve balls.
For 2 months straight we've been battling sickness after sickness in our house. 4 small kids in public schools and daycare, you're bound to get sickness, there's no way around it. And as a mom of 4 I'm completely used to when one kid catches something, we just go down the line and some other number of us ALWAYS wind up with it too. But my goodness, when I tell you I've used 2 whole cans of Lysol, never washed so many sheets and blankets in my life, and have scrubbed every inch of my house (even more so than my perfectionist self is used to), I'm not even exaggerating. But somehow, we ALL keep getting different illnesses. We've ranged from strep, to the stomach flu, to sinus infections, to colds, to lord knows what else. As a mom who's job is to take care of my family, this has killed me physically to be sick myself as well, but emotionally because I can't figure out what to do to make it better for my babies!
Leading up to Halloween, we'd already been sick for a month straight, and I already knew it would mess with our plans because, well after a month of it, you just don't expect anything less. But what I didn't plan for was managing my normal mom stuff and all of my school work load while I felt like death warmed over. I'd find myself setting in a class really questioning my decision to "do it all" at this point in my life. I'd stay up late studying, only to wake up more tired and sick the next day. My husband was sick and still going to work to support ou
r family, and we were both having to take days off to keep kids home from daycare who were too sick to go. If you have kids, this probably sounds really familiar to you, too..So what's the point in me telling you this? Well I found myself setting in algebra class one morning, trying to hold my head up, and trying to learn the information so I can pass this class. And that's when my professor said something important, completely unrelated to algebra.
He was discussing some failing grades on a previous exam with the class, and also discussing our preparation for the next exam. When he started talking about how in life we always come across adversities, no matter how large or small, or in what form they come in, they will ALWAYS come. But it's not the adversities that define us, it's how we overcome those adversities. Now being an non traditional student, I always listen to whatever my professors say, unlike most of the younger people in the class, but I heard him say this, still felt like crap and went about my day like nothing ever happened. It wasn't until that night when I didn't feel like doing any of my homework that I realized what he had said was true. Here I was, balancing everything that life had handed me (even in the case of a sick husband, sick kids, and homework) and I had a choice. Either let it break me down, or I could rise to the occasion, and overcome ALL of what was laid out in front of me.
His words stuck with me the next week or so as I went through multiple exams and midterms, cleaned up more puke than any mom could ever want to, and tried healing my own body during it all. The one thing that was different was my outlook, suddenly everything that happened was an opportunity. It was an opportunity to kick some ass quite honestly. We had a wonderful time on Halloween, sickness and all, I passed all of my tests, and we're blessed beyond measure. And even as I set here typing I've only got half my voice back, my homework list is a mile long again, and I've got even more disinfecting to do in the house to make sure the kids don't get sick yet again. But I'm happy. I'm happy because I've made the choice to overcome adversity, NOT to give in to it. Waking up knowing that "You've got this" is truly the only way to go! A wonderful support system of a loving husband, and other encouraging mama's around you telling you that you got this sure helps, too!!
I hope you all choose to overcome any adversities that may come your way today, no matter how difficult it may seem in the moment! And from one mama to another, I can tell you, YOU'VE GOT THIS!! Have a great weekend! 💪
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| Halloween 2017 |
I always spend so much time planning events to make sure they are "perfect" that I'm typically always relieved when they are over. It's a trait I'm working on for myself, but this Halloween was no exception. I'd had costumes planned and bought for months, a list of activities, crafts, and treats to make, and thought I had covered all of my bases. But what you can't plan for is life's curve balls.
For 2 months straight we've been battling sickness after sickness in our house. 4 small kids in public schools and daycare, you're bound to get sickness, there's no way around it. And as a mom of 4 I'm completely used to when one kid catches something, we just go down the line and some other number of us ALWAYS wind up with it too. But my goodness, when I tell you I've used 2 whole cans of Lysol, never washed so many sheets and blankets in my life, and have scrubbed every inch of my house (even more so than my perfectionist self is used to), I'm not even exaggerating. But somehow, we ALL keep getting different illnesses. We've ranged from strep, to the stomach flu, to sinus infections, to colds, to lord knows what else. As a mom who's job is to take care of my family, this has killed me physically to be sick myself as well, but emotionally because I can't figure out what to do to make it better for my babies!
Leading up to Halloween, we'd already been sick for a month straight, and I already knew it would mess with our plans because, well after a month of it, you just don't expect anything less. But what I didn't plan for was managing my normal mom stuff and all of my school work load while I felt like death warmed over. I'd find myself setting in a class really questioning my decision to "do it all" at this point in my life. I'd stay up late studying, only to wake up more tired and sick the next day. My husband was sick and still going to work to support our family, and we were both having to take days off to keep kids home from daycare who were too sick to go. If you have kids, this probably sounds really familiar to you, too..So what's the point in me telling you this? Well I found myself setting in algebra class one morning, trying to hold my head up, and trying to learn the information so I can pass this class. And that's when my professor said something important, completely unrelated to algebra.
His words stuck with me the next week or so as I went through multiple exams and midterms, cleaned up more puke than any mom could ever want to, and tried healing my own body during it all. The one thing that was different was my outlook, suddenly everything that happened was an opportunity. It was an opportunity to kick some ass quite honestly. We had a wonderful time on Halloween, sickness and all, I passed all of my tests, and we're blessed beyond measure. And even as I set here typing I've only got half my voice back, my homework list is a mile long again, and I've got even more disinfecting to do in the house to make sure the kids don't get sick yet again. But I'm happy. I'm happy because I've made the choice to overcome adversity, NOT to give in to it. Waking up knowing that "You've got this" is truly the only way to go! A wonderful support system of a loving husband, and other encouraging mama's around you telling you that you got this sure helps, too!!I hope you all choose to overcome any adversities that may come your way today, no matter how difficult it may seem in the moment! And from one mama to another, I can tell you, YOU'VE GOT THIS!! Have a great weekend! 💪
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