Give Yourself Grace When You Can’t Do Everything

For many years I have tried to do everything – be at every kid’s activity, grace every social event, participate in every church function, attend every meeting, and fulfill every responsibility that comes my way.

Reality has set in, and I realize I just can’t do it all.

This is the first fall in a few years where we have had three kids in soccer, plus one in ballet three times a week. The soccer, alone, presents conflicting schedules, and I haven’t been to one of my 10-year-old’s soccer games yet. Since my husband coaches his team, it is just inevitable that he is the one to take my son, so we split when we need to, which is often.

It is easy for my mom-heart to feel bad, to feel guilty for not being able to go to my son’s games. Nonetheless, I am learning to let things go. It doesn’t help me nor my family if I carry guilt. I can still be a great mom and support him by telling that I am sorry that I can’t attend his game but I wish him well and want to hear all about his game when it’s over!

Recently our church had a work day. We really try to attend every church function we can. However that morning my 10 year old son had a soccer game, and my older son had a game in the early afternoon about an hour away from our home. I could have pushed myself and added a good amount of stress to our morning so some of us could go for a short while. Instead I chose the simpler route. We ended up not going to our church work day, and it added a little more peace to the flow of our day.

I used to think it was good to push myself continually, to never say no, to never let anyone down, to never miss out on anything, but I am realizing that is not always best nor wise.

When my body started to show signs of wear from continual stress, I realized I just couldn’t keep the same pace. I have to be more prudent with my time, my choices, and where I spend my energies.

It’s not our responsibility to do everything and be everywhere. It’s our responsibility to do well and be all that we can be, and sometimes that means we actually miss out on some things so life can be simpler, fuller, calmer, and better.

Are you pushing yourself too much?
Are you carrying unnecessary guilt?

Give yourself grace.
You can’t do everything and aren’t meant to do so!