Trying To Stay Lifted Up During a Not-So-Lifting-Up Time

I don’t know about you, but these past few weeks I’ve been struggling to keep myself LIFTed UP!

We’re on week 10 of living that quarantine life and usually by week 10 of my kids summer break is when I’m definitely losing my steam.

So, I’m right on schedule BUT…this is the kids FIRST official week of summer break so that means I’m in really BIG trouble because we still have many, MANY!, weeks together (especially since we still can’t go anywhere right now and not sure when we will finally be able to venture out on the town 100%!).

So when times get tough, I try to do all the things that I know will LIFT ME UP!

I was doing SO good at this at the beginning of quarantine life, but now I’m fizzling out!

All I want is some MAJOR alone and QUIET TIME so I can think straight for a little bit, a full night’s sleep in a cold and dark room (my boy still comes in every single night!), a day to just lounge on the couch and watch trashy TV all day long, siblings who LOVE each other every second of the day and a live-in home chef to show me their menu and I just pick what I’d like to each for every single meal and snack and can call me when it’s ready to come to eat and then they clean everything up (I’m SO over being in my kitchen!! Ha!).

I love my kids SO much, but because I’m an empath and I soak-in everyone’s energies all day long, I’m in major need of some alone time and A LOT of soul-nourishing rest to help rejuvenate me and recharge my batteries…BIG TIME!!

But since that’s not going to happen anytime soon, I’ve got to push through with doing all the things that help LIFT me UP out of my exhausted mom (and quarantine!) life right now so I can continue to stay connected to my FEEL GOOD energy during a time that doesn’t feel like good energy at all!!

That means that I still need to get up before the kids so I can dance walk on my treadmill (because when I do, once my body wakes up and I start moving and groovin’ it’s like all the pent up STRESSful energy that’s stuck inside of me from the last 24 hours is LIFTED out of me and I’m smiling BIG and I thinking HAPPY thoughts and I can FEEL the happy tingles moving inside of me from head to toe…it’s AWESOME!! And them I’m constantly thinking “This is SO FUN and I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!” over and over again and then I’m SO thankful that I got up and didn’t choose to sleep-in!)
Continue to take Cider out back to do his thing (by myself!!) while I look up at the trees swaying back and forth from the wind and the birds singing and flying all around me (this nourishes my soul SO much because nature slows me down, helps me to BE present and reminds that LOVE is everywhere…even when I’m stressed and then it reminds me how thankful I AM that we got our dog last year because he IS the reason I’m able to take this quick, alone time, breaks outside like this. If we didn’t have him, I’d never be outside doing this that much, or at all!)
Mediating when I get a moment when the kids don’t need me (I LOVE how this stills my body and makes me feel deeply rested and like like I caught up on all the sleep I lost the night before and that even if the kids come and ask me a question, I’m able to answer OH-SO-CALMLY all while continuing to stay still and in my mediation!).
Mindlessly-creating whenever I can…even if it’s just for a minute (because this easily quiets and calms the stress of mind like no other!! It ALWAYS, ALWAYS, makes me feel like it just lifted a HUGE weight off my shoulders and I feel upbeat, happy and REJUVENATED and mentally CLEAR!!)
And making sure to STOP and SAVOR (and take a picture!) and BE 100% in the moments with my little family that FILLS me UP with so much love and JOY (because when I don’t allow my exhausted thoughts take over and control my thinking I truly FEEL the moment of LOVE and JOY filling me UP deep within me and it melts away all my stress and tensions and reminds me what matters most to my heart and soul…being a more present mom instead of a more stressed-out one all the time!).

It’s definitely not easy to stay LIFTed UP in this new normal of living, but, what I know for sure, is that it’s my UPlifting energy that’ll help me keep my spirits high and will help me get through the stress of it all!!

Right now, it feels like there’s very little time for me to do anything for myself that’ll help me to keep my thoughts out of the stress gutter so if I can only get to one of these (or none at all!) on a certain day or days…it’s OK!

Because I know in my heart, that when more time does open UP for me, and no matter how much I’d rather sleep-in or numb out on my phone for hours, I’ll be right back where I left off with making sure to connect to my inner, UPlifting energy because the more I connect to the FEELING of it, the easier it is to stay motivated to connect to it.

My UPliftment is ALWAYS inside of me, even when I think it’s not!

All I have to do is push through the funk (which can be really hard to do sometimes!) by remembering how it FEELS once I choose to LIFT myself UP and how I wanna FEEL, which is UPlifted instead of down and out…and it’ll be there, waiting and ready for me!

ALWAYS!!

I have to tell myself that every single day because sometimes, well, a lot of the time, when times get tough, I’d much rather sleep-in or numb out on my phone my scrolling and scrolling and scrolling over and over again….

OMG! Numbing out on my phone is literally the worst, even when I think it’s the best thing for me to do at times. It never, EVER, has me feeling UPlifted and happy energized when I’m done! NEVER! And I can’t believe how much I’d rather do it than create or dance or take a moment to go outside in breathe in the fresh air.

It’s CRAZY!! And WHY I have to truly push through my funk…because the funk can win way too much!! WAY TOO MUCH!!

instead of connecting to my inner, happy self on the treadmill which would then have me feeling even more tired….when would then have me not handling all the noise that fills my house all day long until bedtime well…which would then have me feeling like my mind is going to explode and that I want to run FAR, FAR away!!!

It’s way too easy for me to stay down in my funk in times like these!

And I don’t want to stay down in my funk!

Because not only will I feel snappy and irritated and angry and like running away when I’m not doing all the things that help LIFT ME UP, but so will my kids and my husband!

Because my energy creates their energy!

So when I get up before my kids, take the dog out one more time (because this can get exhausting, too!) and stop and soak in all of the beautiful nature my house is surrounded with, meditate and still my body while catching up on some much-needed deep rest that I missed out from the night before, sit down for a minute and mindlessly-create and STOP and SNAP a picture and BE 100% focused in a moment with my little family and in life that is filling my heart UP with LOVE and JOY, my energy is more lifted and happy and my days go SO much better!!

And my kids and my husband’s days will go better, too!

So here’s to doing ALL the things that LIFT ME UP (all the things that make me smile BIG, feel calming and most of all, having me feeling a JOYous and HAPPY tingle that moves all throughout my body from head to toe!) and out of my funk (all the things that make me feel exhausted, tired, depressed, angry, frustrated, irritated and very LOW energy!) no matter how stressful and exhausting my mom life can be!

Because in the end, I (we ALL!) will be better off and I (we!) will look back and see just how important it was for me (us!) to stay connected to what lifts me (us!) during times that don’t feel LIFTing at all!

It’s the UPliftment that heals me, energizes me, and reminds me what matters most to my body, mind, heart and SOUL!!

THANK YOU stress and exhaustion!

If it wasn’t for you, I’d never know (and FEEL!) exactly what LIFTs me UP and keeps me vibrating high!

I AM SOUL GRATEFUL!!

Cheers!

Until next time…

Why do I hand letter uplifting words? Because it easily calms the negative and stressed-out thoughts my mind, ignites my inner kid joy and slows me down so I can BE a more calm, happy + present mom (something that's hard to do when my mind is running 100 miles ahead or behind the present moment...especially during a global pandemic!) and truly focus on what matters most in my life (my kids and my husband!) and all the GOOD that fills it!