Laundry and perfection

I'm not writing about fitness today. Nothing in this post will talk about ways to lose weight or build muscle. Today, I am just going to be me.

Once I got the kids off to school today, I looked around the living room and tears filled my eyes. Laundry. Everywhere. The laundry that was invading my couches was clean, but some of it was folded, some in piles, mismatched socks hanging off the cushions, etc. My gaze moved to the laundry room (our downstairs bathroom) and I saw three more hampers of dirty clothes. I know there are much bigger problems in the world other than my laundry issues, but I felt so stuck. I'm still amazed at how many dirty clothes our family can make... one workout fan, one nurse, and three dancers (comprised of a teen and two pre-teens.)

I took a deep breath and sat down. Why am I allowing this laundry to overwhelm me at 8am?! Because I feel like nothing I am currently doing is enough. I am juggling so many different things, but none of them at the level of success I demand from myself. But guess who knows this about me? One, maybe two people. I hold myself to this impossible standard, one that no one could possibly reach let alone sustain. And just as those words are typed on my screen, I want to delete them. If people know that I am not perfect, without blemish or struggle, they won't like me. Ha! It sounds even more ridiculous when it leaves my head. As all of these thoughts raced around this morning, I sat down on the floor in the middle of the living room. We have dirty laundry because I do workout regularly. We have dirty laundry because my husband works hard every day to support us. We have dirty laundry because our kids are healthy, they run around, they pirouette and tap and love life. And it's okay for me to struggle. That's part of living and learning and figuring out what is really important. I think other people need to know it's okay, too.

When you feel like you aren't good enough, strong enough, smart enough, pretty enough, or just enough, know that you aren't alone. And those thoughts... they aren't the truth. The beauty of life is that we don't always have to have it all together, and showing what may feel like a weakness to us can empower someone else in healthy, beautiful ways.

You will never be perfect. And that's perfect!