TOOT Your Own Horn Thrusday!!!

WOOO HOOOOOO!!!  Today is
TOOT YOUR OWN HORN THURSDAY!!!!

Selena from Just Life is stopping by to give us some AWESOME advice for mom's and WOMEN in general!!!  She is a VERY talented author!!  Hope you enjoy!!!



Just Life: We’re all tired

The other day I went to the Laundromat to… clean clothes obviously. And I decided to bring my Women’s Health Magazine with me instead of work for once. It was a small brain break. I had been reading this mag for about 2+ weeks at this point. But of course the story I opened up to was about women and exhaustion. A topic I am very familiar with (I don’t know how she does it in morning glory http://bit.ly/z09h3y). 

Women at any age have endured the thought and feeling of they HAVE to do everything. If not everything, then they can’t rest until things are done. And then when we try to rest, we can’t quite keep ourselves from making lists in our head. Single, a wife and/or mother, no matter the lifestyle, there is this pressing thought of “I need to keep going”. I am definitely guilty of this. Surely many of you are as well.

Is the question, Do we not feel worthy of rest? We could possibly be overcompensating for our fore-mothers who gave us the right to work with the boys, vote and do all the things they couldn’t. Do we feel like we need to constantly keep up? For me many times, it’s more about seeing the balance in my bank account and thinking “If I work more or harder, the number will grow”. I’m not sure if it’s because of how I was raised, but that thinking could possibly kill me with the way I’ve been going.

The Cosmopolitan Editor-in- Chief, Kate White, even had some words to share on this topic. She revealed that she has been putting some thought into women and exhaustion. Kate mentioned a European banker whose boss said suffered from “a failure to switch off”. As I read the comment, I laughed. Sleep isn’t relaxing anymore either. We “half sleep” and are still semi awake. Some of my best ideas came to me in the morning while lying in bed waiting for my alarm to go off.

The saddest part about all this is that there even seems to be a competition of who is suffering the most. I’ve had many conversations with friends like this,

Friend 1: I’m beat and I’m not even done with organizing my files and cleaning the house.

Friend 2: Me too. I have to call some clients, file, reply to a gazillion emails, brush my teeth, prepare for tomorrow’s meeting, clean the house, get gas in the car, scrounge for money, oh and attend this event for a little while, go to the gym, finish a report for my boss.

Friend 1: I know what you mean. I also have to clean my car, shop for groceries, babysit Sally’s cat, take pennies to the bank, send out a mass email to my department, donate some blood, travel 3 hours by train to a client, my nephew is coming this weekend, I have no insurance so I can’t go to the doctor, and my To Do List is never-ending.

It’s like a Pokemon match. You whip out a higher level to beat the other person. In this case, the only way to beat the other person is to stress or overextend yourself. Instead we should be boasting about getting a chance to relax. Supporting each other to relax! Not upping the ante. So take a break, cup of tea and lock yourself in your bedroom with your favorite magazine; even if it’s less than ten minutes. Challenge your friends to do the same and see who wins. 

About Writer: Selena A. Edwards is an

entrepreneur, marketing strategist and writer. In

2010, she published a novel titled, My___ Life

(The prequel will be published Summer2012).

Alpak Station Inc., a shipping retail store in

Pennsylvania, is her first business founded in 2009.

 Twitter: @Sele_Ana