From the desk of Kelsey Buell,
For those of you who have kids or have been around babies, you are going to know EXACTLY what I’m talking about…
The second you have a clean shirt on and pick up a baby…**blah**…out comes the spit up.
The other day, our little 3-month-old strawberry blonde baby managed to even spit up straight down my shirt…leaving me forced to change my shirt and do a quick “sponge bath” because, as a mom, who has time to shower, right?!
Anyways…
It got me thinking about all the lessons to be learned from constantly having spit-up on my shirt, so are my top 3…here goes!
FIRST…
We need to accept ourselves for who we are when things aren’t perfect. (Or when you’re like me – a really hot mess)
You see, it’s almost a blessing when people can see the spit up on my shirt because it shows that I am human, and that it’s okay for life to be a bit messy sometimes.
It helps others to see that we have our own struggles, and therefore makes us more relatable.
But we have to be at ease with it ourselves – knowing that part of being a human means we are not perfect.
It’s easy to “see” our messes and to feel down and discouraged by them…
But next time something doesn’t go the way you planned, think to yourself “I just got spit up on my shirt again” and maybe it will give you a good laugh.
SECOND…
We need to show love and grace towards others.
Although they may not have spit up on their shirt, their life could be just as messy in other ways.
When I show up to a work meeting, a date night, or a fun night out with friends, and all of a sudden realize I have spit up on my shirt, most people will say “It’s okay, you get a hall pass…you’re a mom! You’ve got a lot on your hands…”
But are we equally as willing to give others a “hall pass” when their mess isn’t quite as visible?
Sometimes it’s easy to take offense to what someone says or does, because we can’t see that they are hurting inside.
If I’m confused by someone’s actions, the first thing I almost always ask myself is, “I wonder what is going on in their life right now.”
Typically if someone acts negatively towards me, I recognize that they may have a big “mess” going on in their life that is driving them to lash out in a certain way.
It’s so important to recognize that they probably have their own “mess” too, that’s just not as visible.
We all have our own version of visible OR invisible spit up in our lives.
THIRD…
Our life gets the most messy when we care deeply about others.
Because I spend so much time caring for our little June bug, she takes up all of my energy which leaves less time for myself.
This means less time to keep the house clean…
Less time to respond to and clean up my e-mail inbox…
Less time to stay connected to friends and family whom I absolutely love…
Less time to worry about perfecting a work project…
Less time to do a good job thinking of the best words to use in this blog…
When we have less time to keep up with of life because we have other people we are investing our time and energy into, we just have to expect that things won’t be “perfect” and could get a bit messy.
Are you okay with giving 80% to some areas of your life?
Remember, time invested in others is never wasted.
And although it might mean you’re a bit “messy” in other areas of life, it’s always 100% worth the mess.
So the next time you have spit up on your shirt…or maybe just spill a cup of coffee on your lap on your way to work…
Remember – life is messy, and it’s completely okay to be a mess sometimes! That does not mean you’re any less successful or worthy of love.
You can be worthy AND a mess all at the same time.