“At what age do people finally have their sh!t together”…asking for a friend. Ok, not really. That friend is me. 

Three different people have asked me this question this week or have posted it on social media. Three different people struggling like everyone else in the world. My answer? Never. Don’t stop reading. Stick with me here. I don’t say never as in “you don’t ever have your poop in a group”. I say this because that’s actually not a thing. Let me explain.

Your life is uniquely yours. The job you have, the number of kids you have, the relationships you cultivate every day, the passions you have, and the purpose you live out each day, all unique to you. The saying “ having it all together” is only relative to that person’s circumstances. So when you look at someone else and think “Dang! That person has it together and I don’t”, also remind yourself of the great Mark Twain who said “comparison is the thief of joy”. It truly is. The deck you’re playing the hell out of is not even close to being the same deck as those you’re comparing yourself to. That person may not be able to home-school 5 kids under the age of 12 like you rock the socks off every single day. That person may not be able to create the most beautiful art people have ever seen like you. Some may not even have the motivation to vacuum but here you are with the most spotless house people have ever been in and you have 3 babies under 5. The gifts you possess are nothing short of remarkable. You are the only one who can achieve the success of the dreams you have or accomplish the tasks you can the way you can. Ever notice that certain people can live in a self-created jungle and others (yours truly) can’t keep a succulent alive for a week? Differently unique. 

The whole point here is to stop comparing yourself to other people. It’s doing you no good. It’s bringing you down and making you feel inadequate. Nobody needs any more of that than society puts on us already. 

Own your strengths! Be PROUD of yourself. The last email you got was on gratitude. When you’re writing your list of 10 things you’re grateful for every day, write down a few things you can do that nobody else can do. You are a phenomenal woman, even when your life feels like a circus and you are The Greatest Showman! You’re doing a fantastic job with the cards you’ve been dealt in this season of life. Own it and rather than letting that comparison steal your joy, BRING THE JOY! Be proud of others for their excellence but be even more proud of yourself for all of your excellence! 

Until next week, love each other and love yourself harder. 

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

I changed my major 9 times in college. NINE. I graduated with a degree in elementary education because I was being pressured to “just get a degree in something” Elementary education had the most credit hours so that’s what stuck. Upon graduating, I taught for four years but wasn’t ever completely fulfilled. I still felt there was a void that wasn’t filled. So I went back to college…and changed majors two more times. Eleven majors and I still wasn’t sure “what I wanted to be when I grew up”. I’ve always known I was meant to help others. I’m a 2 on the enneagram for crying out loud. A two. The Helper. After getting a minor in marketing, moving to Dallas, TX and working in a marketing firm for 4 years, I was fired three weeks after coming back from medical leave. The stress had worn me down to the point of my adrenals almost completely quitting on me and when I went back, fired. At this point I started to question everything. Who am I? What now? I’m not fulfilled in corporate America so what am I supposed to do with my life? My career? How will I feed my son, pay bills, LIVE? It was daunting and I was lost. I was depressed and I was stuck.

It was at that point, trying to juggle everything and feeling like a complete failure, I joined a coaching group that focused on helping me find myself. WOW! Coaching helped me uncover my core values and what my highest self looks like. It helped me look at my past and the way that God has shaped every experience to lead me here. The most exciting part of the coaching though taught me to define myself in two words. Two words to describe what I do, no matter what I do. Those two words: Recognizing Potential.