Hiker Chicks and Other Self-Care Warriors

I told this mom that I’d been hiking with moms from our class and she asked how I got to do that and I said that I just asked them. I asked her, “Do you want to hike some time?” And she said, “Yes!” And I said, “Great!” And then she said she had work so it was a problem but then she figured out that she could get to work a little late one day, especially since she’d signed on for a part time gig that was turning out to be full time. So perfect. She also seemed, in that moment, to realize that maybe it was time for her to make her part time gig a bit more part time.

I saw another mom friend of mine yesterday who was also struggling with finding the time to do whatever she needed to do to not get mired in the drudgery of daily living. Things like going outside, getting together with a friend, exfoliating. She was thinking about changing up the habit of putting herself last, but she wasn’t quite there yet.

I get it. I still make up stories about why I can’t do what I want to do, what I need to do, to feel good and to take care of myself, but it’s less frequent these days and I’m pretty good at catching myself at it. I’ve given myself permission to let this life be as good as it can be, as good as it is, and I’ve gotten help to do that from all kinds of sources. I’m going to keep going. I matter.