It’s easy to overstuff, you guys. Our dryers. Our lives. And that’s what causes burnout!
Hey there! I’m Mikala—a wife, mother of 5, family doctor, well-being advocate, and the author of Ordinary on Purpose. Each month, my writing reaches millions of women, but I am thrilled to be connecting with YOU. I’m truly grateful to have you here!
All in Life
It’s easy to overstuff, you guys. Our dryers. Our lives. And that’s what causes burnout!
Can I invite you to ignore the extra flesh and the new gray hairs and the soft tummy and even the fine crow’s feet? And instead, will you zoom in very close and notice your eyes?
I think we’re missing out on the fabulous beauty midlife has to offer while trying to cover our age spots and blemishes with creams or smooth our crow’s feet with medicated patches or inject away our forehead wrinkles.
None of it feels shiny! And it certainly isn’t perfect, but it IS beautiful.
I guess you should get up earlier every morning so you have plenty of time to pray and read and do morning yoga and somehow be thinner, prettier, healthier, younger, and more self-confident while volunteering, working outside your perfectly organized home, and putting your marriage first all while spending more one-on-one time with each child…
It’s sobering to know that before IV antibiotics were widely available, my daughter’s particular diagnosis had a blindness rate of 20% and with certain complications, a mortality rate >40%.
Me. Family. Good friends. Connection. Real food. Nature. Pets. Comfortable footwear. Fresh baked bread. My tattered bible while soaking in a warm tub before bed.
If you feel like you are failing your child, I have a story for you.
I remember that I am not wired to carry the weight of the world. It isn’t fair.
Listening to my body. Moving her and feeding her and caring for her. Stopping whenever I need a rest. Noticing other people and flowers and blue skies and sunshine and dogs. And just marveling at the world.
Is it here? Maybe here? Maybe once I get there? Or maybe if I could just have what SHE has?
It is perfectly okay to admit this change is hard on my momma heart. It’s okay that it feels necessary to grieve.
We need an un-doing of the rules, of the stories we’ve been told, of the world’s ridiculous expectations, and of the lies we’ve accumulated into overflowing garbage heaps in our minds.
None of it feels shiny! And it certainly isn’t perfect, but it IS beautiful.
That little boy you always knew is right there…and somehow this beautiful new person is emerging too.
To me, that’s where we really LIVE this lovely little thing called life.
It definitely isn’t glamorous, and I will probably spend the entirety of most days wondering if I am doing anything right. Nonetheless, I am delighted by my life.
You are loved and adored. You are valuable and worthy. Simply because you are YOU…and you are HIS.
Me. Family. Good friends. Connection. Real food. Nature. Pets. Comfortable footwear. Fresh baked bread. Long walks around the path behind my house. My tattered bible while soaking in a warm tub before bed.