Truth Tuesday

​It's Tuesday the 21st of February. I seriously cannot believe we're three quarters of the way through the second month of 2017. Today I'm checking in with myself and giving myself a good kick in the backside.

By this time of the year, those New Years resolutions are all too easily faded away. I'm as guilty as the next guy. I'm better than I was, but not where I resolved to be. 

I'll take "better" and I'll keep working towards "best".

I haven't been to the gym as many times a week as I'd like but I've been there.

I haven't been in the Word everyday like I aim to but I've read more than I was reading.

I haven't been able to devote quite as much focused time and energy into my business as I'd hoped to but I'm leaps and bounds ahead of where I was.

We still have a long ways to go towards our 2017 financial goals but we've dumped a lot towards those goals in less than two months.

And life, as per usual, has added in multiple unexpected happenings that consume time and energy (and money) that we weren't planning on.

A sick dog in her last months of life.

A very difficult wisdom tooth extraction and recovery.

Big decisions thrown at us to wrestle through.

Unexpected bills.

Huge health care changes to pray (and cry) through.

​It is good and healthy and productive to have goals, to aim high, to continually better ourselves and work hard.

But we need to give ourselves some grace too. Life is crazy and unexpected and full and overwhelming.

There will always be dishes and laundry and bathrooms that needs cleaning.

There will always be bills to pay and phone calls to make.

There will always be appointments to keep and those over-packed days in our weeks.

There will always be business messages to send and reply to and keep up on.

There will always be disappointments and discouragements.

​I'm a perfectionist at my core. That can be a good thing but it can also be a very damaging and hindering characteristic. It means my expectations are too high for myself and too high for those closest to me. It causes constant disappointment in myself and irritation with others. 

So I am working at letting go of perfectionism, at lowering my blood pressure when the house is a mess (even though my hubby says it isn't), at not letting fear of doing things imperfectly paralyze me from doing things at all, at giving myself grace to not do all of life perfectly all of the time.

Because heck, that's impossible. I am a human!

I'm thankful for God's grace, for my husband's love, for the encouragement of my tribe surrounding me. 

​2017 has had so many struggles in it's short 52 days but it has also had so many victories. It is shaping up to be another "best year yet" and I'm so excited for what God has in store.

Also. It's freaking 60+ degrees, in February, in Wisconsin. How could I not be looking on the bright side of life?!

Happy Tuesday, lovelies. Keep sparkling, keep striving, keep shining, keep keeping it real!