With the end of year is quickly approaching, are you feeling the pressure to get it all done? Self-imposed or not, the feelings are there; they're real. Are you going a mile a minute and, even when you're head hits the pillow this week, you're thinking about how you're going to get that deal closed at work, all the Thanksgiving groceries purchased, the children -- what about the children? School is out!
All of the sudden your work days just got shorter, and now are you grappling with trying to be the relaxed Mom who's enjoying the week off with her children, yet you don't have the week off, you have a job. It's game time.
I'm certain I'm not alone when I say there's desire to feel relaxed during Thanksgiving week. It's the beginning of holiday season and energy is high. Yet, maybe you can relate to feeling like your hardwiring doesn't allow you slow it down a notch for just a few days and take it all in. Perhaps underneath all of this, there is a desire to DO it all and to get it all right. Does your 110% look like most people's 90 percent?
I've been there. Life as an ambitious, working Mom is full on. Full stop.
I invite you to enter Thanksgiving with the intention to unequivocally enjoy this week. I mean, really enjoy it. Be fully engaged, get lost in a conversation at the dinner table, experience bellyache laughter, eat as much as you want, stay up late, and be the real you. I encourage you to mark the memory by giving thanks to all that you are and all that you appreciate in your life in a way that honors your style.
What would it look like if over the course of Thanksgiving week, you allowed yourself to have a goal of sufficiency with regards to all of the responsibilities? Meaning, your goal this week isn't to DO it all. Your goal is to do just enough to feel good, allowing you to have the meaningful experience you desire this holiday week. Prepare one fewer side dish. Say yes to Thanksgiving dinner at a friends house. Set boundaries to responding to work email.
This is powerful reframe in how you hold and portray yourself in your own eyes and to others. You don't have to hit a homerun everyday this week. This will allow you to release the pressure valve.
Let your ambition simply simmer for a few days. Let it breathe. Like a good pot of homemade Turkey soup. When you do return to work next Monday, you will feel refueled, energized, re-calibrated and ready to live a bigger, conscious life.
Here are three simple steps to help you experience the holiday more:
1. What words or qualities describe how you want to feel this week?
2. Each day this week, when you go to take action, ask yourself, "Does this action support the list of qualities describing how I want to feel?"
3. What boundaries can I set this week and share with my partner that honor the experience I want to have?
Listen, working Mamas and modern women, this isn't about squelching our ambition. This is about learning to take our foot off the gas pedal this week and stepping into this holiday week in a way that allows us to honors who we are, freeing us to give thanks, and mark the memory in a way that feels graceful and fulfilling.
Sometimes being sufficient in some areas for a designated amount of time simply means we're making room for ourself to expand and grow exponentially as it relates to our purpose, how we relate to ourselves and to others. More times than not, by disrupting our normal manic schedule and creating space, new creative ideas are formed, which are at heart of our ambition.
It's my intention that even the most ambitious, working Mom is able to experience this week fully engaged, alive, and conscious, conquering burnout and unapologetically representing her whole self. Ready to dive into work next week ready to thrive as her fully integrated self.
Women inspire other women. Leave a comment below around what qualities you want to feel this week as it relates to your Thanksgiving experience. Visit me at www.consciousworkingmama.com for more spiritual and tactical techniques on how to conquer burnout and learn to love the life you live.
Many Blessings,
Sarah x