I was watching a 20/20 or something a few months ago and they were talking about how Social Media actually causes "us" to be depressed. Seeing our friends updates of their vacations, fun activities, good news and all around "perfect" lives makes us feel bad about ourselves and wish we had what they have. Now I will say, some folks post their doom and gloom on Facebook but for the most of the folks, we share happy things, funny stuff and maybe a prayer request from time to time when something is wrong with us or a loved one. I have put a lot of thought into this and think about it outside of the social media realm into conversations I have with friends, what I share on my blog and so on.
A conversation that particularly stuck with me was with a dear friend who has 2 children-I think her youngest is one-and we were discussing the struggles with adding the second child into the family. She is an extremely honest person and doesn't sugar coat things. I appreciated her sincerity very much! But she also made the comment "Well, you will probably have it all under control since you stay at home and you are probably way better at all of this than me." I assured her that I am no better of a mother than her and I could see all of the things she was describing as struggles in my house as well. Some of our struggles would be different of course but nonetheless, it would be just as difficult.
I am a mostly glass half full kind of person but I have my days like everyone else...I just choose not to blog on my bad days. Not so everyone thinks my life is perfect but because I am probably too emotionally or physically exhausted to blog about my dramas of the day. Besides, no one really wants to read doom and gloom anyway, right?!
I guess I just wanted to have a post where I let out the secret that my life isn't perfect. It is in fact perfect for me but there are struggles in this Beaver House--I know I can almost hear all of you gasping you are so shocked. I will be 8 months pregnant next week which means I am very blessed but also very tired from lack of sleep, lots of heartburn, uncomfortable a lot of the time and literally gaining a pound a day. I have a 2 year old who is smart, funny, beautiful, the most cherished thing in my life but also is a 2 year old! She is strong willed, throws fits from time to time, pees in the floor, and asks to eat all day long. I love my hubs with all of my heart and know he is the "perfect" person for me to spend my life with but yet after 4 years of pleading he still puts wet towels in the laundry basket with clothes and its disgusting. He leaves trails of his stuff all over then asks why the house looks messy and he does not lift the seat to pee!! Then there is Oscar. My sweet precious puppy dog who could do no wrong. He has single handedly eaten the majority of my underwear, socks & Paige's stuffed animals. He has eaten pounds of raw meat I lay out to defrost to prepare for dinner and he barks at sprinklers in the middle of the night. I sometimes wear sweatpants until 3 in the afternoon and if I don't feel like cooking dinner, I just don't.
So if you ever feel bad because everyone around you seems to have the perfect lives, children, marriage, career, etc., remember we are all merely human. No one's life is completely perfect and if they tell you it is they are lying! How we handle our bad days and situations is what makes us who we are though. Learn from mistakes and don't let a wet towel ruin your entire day. Baby pee can be cleaned up easily and well, you can always buy more underwear. Then at the end of the day, put some lip gloss on, grab your baby/hubs or bestie, smile and take a photo to put out on the internet to show everyone what a perfect day you had! HA!
P.S. I am almost to 200 posts on this blog!!!! WOW!
love you more than ever for your honest blog post. everyone's lives suck a little bit (if not, i hate them) but we can always look at the silver lining and know how blessed we are and that we stll have it pretty well off.-leah
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