Today I received a push notification from my SparkPeople iPhone app which asked if I wanted some motivation. The rest of the prompt required me to list my three most recent accomplishments. Should be easy, right? Wrong! I immediately got a pang of anxiety when I couldn’t recall any of my recent laudable milestones in those first few seconds.
Why was it that I was unable to come up with three things that I have successfully completed lately; three things that I could be proud of? Is it that I truly haven’t done anything worthy of praise, or do I just believe that within my daily routine there aren’t notable tasks that ignite adulation from anyone, including myself?
Once the initial shock of my inability to answer a simple computer-generated question subsided, I took a brief moment to ponder further the query of whether or not my behavior has been commendable as of late, and this is what I realized…
Far too often, parents (and yes, mainly mothers) find ourselves with disbelief in our abilities, worth, and contribution. For some of us maybe this stems from how we were raised. For others, maybe self-doubt is an unfortunate trait of our already ingrained personality. For some parents, it could quite possibly be due to their fear of the judgmental and often interruptive voice of the general public.
It’s hard to talk about yourself; at least in my opinion. And, I would venture to suspect that there must be others who feel the same way. While I know that I am a “good” person, who works hard and is trying to make a difference in this world by raising children who will make their own difference in the world, I struggle to own the belief that doing just that is an accomplishment.
But then a lightbulb went off. There is no accomplishment more remarkable than being someone whose main goal is to raise good people who can make the world a better place, in whatever way they see fit.
Being a parent is rarely glamorous and more often than not, it can be somewhat of a thankless role. However, the one thing I am vowing to myself now, more than ever, is that I am going to hold steadfast to the notion that I get sh*t accomplished every single day. That’s right, I accomplish a lot in a day, and the three main objectives that guide many of my daily accomplishments are (1) I love my oldest daughter to the best of my ability, (2) I love my son to the best of my ability and (3) I love my youngest daughter to the best of my ability.
So, I am now provoking SparkPeople to ask me once again to list off three accomplishments. What will happen when it does is that I will chuckle, maybe silently or maybe aloud, because I will know that my three accomplishments are damn impressive and ought to be respected.
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