Lately I am hearing more and more friends talk about feeling down, tired, like they have lost themselves lately…it makes me sad but I can relate. I have struggled with body image, depression, anxiety and the overwhelming sense of loss …loss of who I was before. I was grieving I think for who I was before I became a mom.
Now before people start to freak out I am not saying I regret becoming a mom rather I am saying life changed. I had little people to take care of and who I would do anything in the world for and I did!!! I stopped taking care of myself, I opted for food that was quick not good, I gave up my hobbies, my sleep, everything it seemed. But was I happy? No i was miserable! With how I looked and felt and was bored. I was lost and quite frankly felt like I didn’t matter.
That was it for me! Oh how I wanted my old life back and to feel good again.
I got depressed. Severely depressed continued to gain weight and at the same time resent my life making me now increasingly snippy let’s just say with everyone. I was angry at the world!!! I realized one day that I am a person too! Funny right? We as moms tend to forget this in our rat race. We are people too! We matter! I mattered! Hell I will say I mattered the most because ultimately moms for the most part are the glue that holds it all together and who is the go to for most kids! I better get my S&$t together or we are in huge trouble. I am falling apart and now no one is happy.
Sacrificing myself for the greater good was doing no good at all it was backfiring!
I started to make time for myself and protect it like my favourite lipstick from my now teenage daughter!
What time for yourself looks like is up to you but you need to do it to protect your mental well being and fuel your soul up again! Go for a walk, take a class, run, read whatever but do it!
It is an investment that everyone around you will reap the benefits of when you are happier and more fulfilled.
You are not a waste if time! You are Important!