The challenge of coordinating my desires with those with my own family, are always there. It’s a struggle, a fine balance, a juggle of balls up in the air and seeing if I can catch them all. I set myself a goal to write, at least twice a week and somehow even that small goal was set aside for other demands, not all of them someone else’s, but my writing was put aside anyway. And it wounds me each and every time that I’m not able to dedicate as much time as I want to what I want and love to do.

But the gift it has given me, the struggle and challenges of juggling my desires with everyone else’s?

Perspective and clarity.
Grace and freedom.

Nothing I do is without my permission. So whether that is saying I’m not going to write while my children nap but instead meal plan or read a book or chat with a friend, I do it with a full conscious thought. I give myself permission to do what needs to be done AND putting aside the guilt that comes from not doing what I want to be doing.

It’s the guilt that can kill the joy in doing what needs to be done. The negative thoughts that sweep in saying “there you go again, pushing aside what you said you were going to do” or “you never get to do what you want” or “if you were more passionate, you’d focus”.

Yes, those are all lies I’ve once said and believed of myself. But I no longer let those words have a hold over me.

I made a commitment to live my life with grace and beauty. Not perfection and overwhelm.

This isn’t a commitment I have made lightly, every morning I have to recommit myself to this way of living. It’s like a marriage. saying “I do” when I face an unexpected challenge, or my children refuse to cooperate with my plans, or I don’t have another ounce of energy at the end of the day to write I remind myself that I am committed to grace and beauty.

My day will never look the same from one to the next, but I do know that each day is filled with grace and beauty. Because life is too short to live otherwise.

Have you committed to live a particular way? And if yes, what is it? If no, is there something stopping you? Please share the way you live below as I would love to hear how others around the world are choosing to live life.