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​If you've stumbled across this post finding yourself in the thick of it--
in a mess you can't imagine finding your way out of,
off-track in seemingly every area of your life,
at a depth you can't imagine rising above...
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~ b r e a t h e. You have that. Start there.

~ know you're not alone. We've all been there at some point in our lives.

~harness whatever little faith & willpower you've got left in you & sort out what's within your control & what to give over to God. What's not within your control--hand it over. (And know that you're not somehow doing the whole faith thing wrong if it feels uncomfortable or even painful doing so.)

As a blogger I'm frequently cruising social media looking for content to share on my page.  When I find myself nodding in agreement or thinking "Amen!", I know that content resonates with me and likely will with my readers as well.  In my scrolling though I've noticed a certain category of motivational memes & quotes lately--the "females empowering each other" brand--that, while nice in theory, have just felt...well...inauthentic.  Ya know, ones of this nature:

Last week I attended a Montessori conference and had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Timothy Purnell, the Executive Director of the American Montessori Society. With the kind of energy that gets a guy walking through the aisles of an auditorium instead of standing behind a podium, he talked to us about the importance of connecting & sharing about Montessori through social media--a platform that has the capability of spreading good through its enormous reach.  It's through connecting and relationship building, he reminded us, that we are part of a movement.  But to be a part of something great--to be part of a movement--you have to stop keeping the good stuff to yourself and share with others. 

In other words, you have to "get off your island".

For the last few weeks I’ve suffered from a condition I can't quite name but seems to flare up from time to time, especially when a new year approaches. It impairs my ability to get words from my mind onto the actual page, to get my yoga pant-clad bottom to the place where the yoga actually happens.

​You see, it’s not an issue of intention, it’s one of execution.

There’s fortunately nothing physically wrong with me—my right (write) hand isn’t paralyzed and I’m thankful to have the ability to exercise my body. I can’t claim writer’s block because the ideas are there, just as I can’t blame my procrastination around exercising on not knowing how to do it…it’s just that I come up with every excuse in the world to NOT ACTUALLY DO IT.

And this is where the shame comes in.

"You're so sensitive."

Three little words I've heard over and over again throughout my life.  In Kindergarten I cried every time the teacher reprimanded the class because I thought she was surely talking directly to me.  Kids in school said I didn't know how to take a joke.  Boyfriends accused me of being overly sensitive when we fought.  Believe me, I've been told on way more than one occasion that I need to lighten up or toughen up. 

Do something to stop being "too much"--too sensitive, too anxious, too nice.

I spent thirty-some years being ashamed of my sensitive nature, trying to put on a front that things didn't really bother me when they did, acting as if I had a thick skin when I didn't, pretending jokes rolled off my back when they stuck to me like glue.