Work at Home Mom

Is the knowing of one’s self (so important for a work at home mom in being comfortable with the life choices she is making) a one-time project? Hardly!

“To know one’s self is a constant and continual process. Observe yourself. Be aware. Watch yourself in the moments of the day. Listen to yourself. Notice how you act or react in certain situations.” This is the advice of inspirational author Matthew Kelly in his book “The Rhythm of Life”. Kelly’s mission is to help people become the best version of themselves.

I have found that, while I am fairly adept at observing myself, I am quick to transition from observation to judgment. While it is helpful to acknowledge weaknesses along with strengths, berating myself for those weaknesses is not very productive. Far more productive is fashioning a plan to overcome such weaknesses.

For example, I originally intended to make this post much closer to the original post about knowing one’s self. And I am annoyed with myself that there was a lapse of several weeks. I have observed the action (or lack thereof). I have observed the annoyance. And now, it is my natural inclination to tell myself that I am too disorganized, too over-extended and too dumb to do this right. OK, OK, that last part about being dumb….I don’t think I truly think that about myself, but the impression is still there. Pretty harsh judgment.

It would be so much better to acknowledge that I get annoyed when I don’t follow through on an intention and then choose to (a) institute some practices or systems to help me in fulfilling my intentions; or (b) accept that, while it was a good intention, it was not vital for the success of the world, AND it may have been replaced with other equally good or even better intentions, such that annoyance is a really inappropriate response.

For example, the blog entry about choices posted in lieu of this one ties perfectly into this topic, as I am choosing how to respond to this observation about myself! And if I choose to stop judging myself at least long enough to reflect on that…voila! My original intention was, indeed, replaced with an equally good or even better intention. So, observing that I felt annoyance with myself as I strive to know myself, I can make another choice to replace that annoyance with a much more productive outlook. And the cycle continues. I can and want to continue to notice and observe myself so that I can know myself more fully and become the best version of myself.