September 14th - Accomplishments

Thank you guys for all the wonderful comments,

and thank you so much for reading.

The last four days or so

 I've had around or more than 100 page views. 

It's made me all warm and fuzzy inside, 

I'm feeling the love.

Today Sarah continues with the topic of success.

Start Quote

One of the reasons women often don't feel successful 

is we never give ourselves credit.

Should we slip for a moment

and bask in the glow of accomplishment,

we immediately feel the need to downplay our achievement,

especially in front of our family and friends.

[I do this all the time. 

I'm sure you've noticed.

Like every time I sew something

or every picture I'm ever in.

I always feel the need to clarify that it's not perfect.]

Before we know it, 

we're practically denying we ever attained anything.

 

But many successful people do revel in their achievements,

covering the walls of their offices and homes 

with their [achievement proudly.]

They've succeeded, 

and not only does the world applaud them, 

they congratulate themselves...

[You know that man doesn't have those medals

stored away in the basement in a box...]

Many women suffer [from never 

feeling or acknowledging their accomplishments.]

We scale one mountain after another,

overcome every obstacle,

smash the glass ceiling.

But is the [accomplishment] savored?

Do we celebrate?...

No!

We shrug off our personal triumphs as if they were flukes,

then wonder why we feel so unfullfilled.

If we trace this unnurturing behavior back to its source, 

many of us will find ourselves standing quietly,

waiting patiently for the parental approval that never came, 

no matter what we achieved...

[I caught myself doing this today. 

The twins pretty much got peeing in the potty down,

but I was like "Okay! On to poop."...

I probably should have congratulated them more,

especially when they went in the potty

and not on the floor.]

We have been conditioned to believe 

that nothing we do is ever good enough, 

we continue this destructive cycle of 

withholding approval from ourselves.

Once, over a five-year period, 

I wrote and narrated a twelve-part series for public radio,

launched a nationally syndicated newspaper column, 

wrote and published two books, 

and gave numerous lectures and workshops. 

On the surface I looked successful...

[But I was never satisfied, 

always looking for that next mountain to climb.]

I had also succumbed to 

the self-destructive illusion of believing that 

the next creative project would be the one 

that would bring me the recognition 

I'd been hungering for all my life. 

The big break would finally arrive...

Since I hadn't received recognition or approval from my parents

and certainly didn't give it to myself,

the only possible source was the outside world.

Surely the world would notice...

I experienced this awakening one day 

when I was rewriting my resume...

As I listed my accomplishments, 

I wondered "Who is this woman? Do I know her?"...

I started searching [for her]...

I took some of my favorite memorabilia...to the framers. 

When I hung them up in our living room,

 I stood back and looked at them the way a stranger might.

Wow! 

It was astounding, exhilarating, stupefying.

Then I began to congratulate myself out loud for jobs well done.

Now I seize moments of achievement by making them concrete.

Having the physical evidence of accomplishment 

has gone a long way toward making me feel successful...

Although it may crown you Queen for a Day,

 the world cannot confer the recognition 

that will make you feel fulfilled.

Only you can.

End Quote

It is really hard sometimes to 

feel successful in the mundane day to day life

of a stay at home mom.

But gosh darn it, I'm going to celebrate today. 

I kept the kids alive and I loved them. 

I worked my butt off at workout.

I would take a picture to show off my amazing body, 

but that would be a little immodest. 

But let me tell you, I'm very proud of this accomplishment. 

I went to Costco, and it was very successful.

I got everyone down for a nap, including myself. 

I taught a great piano lesson.

I made an awesome dinner.

I had a jam session with my cousin.

I read, sang with, and prayed with the kids 

before putting them to bed.

I cleaned and organized my craft room. 

And now I'm writing my blog.

Even if no one ever read it, 

I know that I am accomplishing my goal,

and it's pretty good if I do say so myself.

Sure I still haven't showered and it's 1am...

There were plenty of things that could be viewed as failures today,

like still not getting to those thank you notes.

But I know that I had a successful day.

Sometimes it's hard to remember the mountains I've climbed

because I'm busy climbing the next one.

I'm going to put up my diplomas on the wall of our office,

which is in the craft room,

which I can now work in now that it's cleaned. 

And I'm going to get my memory board up

so I can start putting little memories of achievements in sight

instead of out of sight and out of mind.

What are you going to do today

to congratulate yourself?

How are you going to display your achievements?

I know that it's hard,

but you can do it.

It's just another small change 

in the way you think about yourself. 

You are successful.

Your accomplishments are enough.

You are good enough.

Let's celebrate.

***

Gratitude Journal

***

1) My mom. She was texting me this morning while I was still in bed, and Riley was like "my Nana". So we facetimed her, and she's dressed and ready for work and we're still in bed. I was feeling very sad this morning, and just wanted to go back to bed and not deal with the day, and she said something along the lines of "don't be sad. You're amazing and a great daughter. Don't be sad." I love my mom, it turned my day around.

2) Sleep.

3) Costco.

4) My kids.

5) My husband. Relationships are amazing when you have changes of heart and you keep your promises.