Changing Lanes

How many times do we as women push ourselves to the limit? We stretch ourselves so far that we feel like an elastic band ready to break. Playing taxi service by carting children from one end of town to the other, grabbing only the bare essentials at warp speed down the grocery aisles between drop off and pick up times. Not to mention arriving at work, flop into your chair and hook up to the closest coffee machine by direct feed. I've been there and it's not pretty.

So how long can you keep the pace up? I made it to three years. Three years of working two jobs, running around with kids and throwing together meals that were more likely suitable to those without teeth or didn't mind the taste of charcoal. However, it was at a cost. I was stressed. With one word I could take the head off my hubby at thirty paces and my children would wait until the dust settled before entering the room. It wasn't life, I was in survival mode and even then, I was barely coping. The days were becoming longer and my brain felt like mush. I just couldn't mentally process anything more. There wasn't any more to give.

So I made a decision. I resigned from one of my jobs. Yes, it was a hard decision to make but looking back, one that I don't regret at all. Sanity returned over time. It took 18 months to find myself again but now that I have, I refuse to visit that place again. It no longer appears on my travel itinerary, the visa is cancelled and the borders are closed.

Sometimes when you are in so deep, you need a hand to get out. You need someone to tell you to stop before everything becomes all consuming. We roar down life's highway at an incredible pace but when you look back do you remember the journey or are you driving with a blindfold on? Are you so caught up in the daily grind that you seem to be on the never ending roundabout? If you are my advice is to slow down, put your indicator on, change lanes, take the next exit and find a new highway to travel. One that allows you time to enjoy life, not just survive. I look forward to waving to you.