Pace yourself: 'Rome wasn't built in a day'.

I often get too impatient and feel like this exact moment determines my overall success or failure as a human being. Because I didn't work on "_________" project today, then 'I will never finish it'. Or because the dishes aren't done, and the floor is not swept, then I'm a 'failure' as a homemaker.  I tend to jump to dramatic conclusions, and have to take a moment to step back and reevaluate my perception.

Take our road trip home on Sunday, for example. My children don't nap much in cars on long road trips. It makes no sense!  Take them to the grocery store or zoo, and they will nap the 5 min drive home. But take a 4 hour road trip during normal nap hours, and they will cry, sing, whine, ask for snacks, ask for books, whine, play with a toy, ask for snacks.......and maybe nap 20 min. Meanwhile, I'm trying to stay awake (because I want to nap) and keep them calm enough to not bother my husband (so he can drive safely).  It would be easy to think in that 4 hour moment, that life stinks, that nothing we are doing as parents is making any difference, or that we should never make a trip again.

If you throw in "Mega Meltdown Wednesday" (that's what I'm going to call last Wednesday at our house with a 3 year old), then you especially feel that nothing you are doing is making a difference.  But then I would be forgetting all the progress like her helping little man with his shoes, making sure brother has enough food, cleaning up her toys for papa, and helping to clean the table after supper.

You can't compare how much water is in the bucket compared to the ocean, but rather how much water is in the bucket compared to the water the bucket held before. 

Being prego, energy and stamina are two longed for friends that I hope return someday. Even after just climbing our stairs at home (albeit they are steep), I have to sit and rest a minute. It's easy to see all that is lacking in homemaking, instead of all that has been accomplished that week.

I'm not sure how the phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day' came about, but it's true. They didn't just build Rome on Monday and move in on Tuesday. Rather each day they went out and laid another brick or poured another layer of concrete.

Remember one of my favorite phrases "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."  If we don't take that first bite, we'll have just as many the next day. But if we keep taking a bite each day, or laying a brick each day, eventually we'll reach our goal.

Masterpieces are painted one stroke at a time. 

One of the main lessons I learned as a teacher, is the importance of celebrating any progress no matter how small.  I (or the student) may not be who I want to be, but I'm not who I was.  Progress is made in the every day action of taking bites and laying bricks. 

Let's encourage each other when it seems overwhelming, when we come to drastic conclusions about our success/failure in a certain area, and when everything that is yet to be done clouds our vision of all that has been accomplished already. 

Let's lay another brick, eat another bite, teach another lesson. Let's remember today is not the finish line, but just another step in the race.   Some chapters may be frustrating or overwhelming, but the book is not complete yet. 

I'll remind you if you remind me. :-)