Dear Moms, It’s Time To Stop Sacrificing Things You Shouldn’t

“You are more than a fulfiller of needs. Just because you’re a mother does not mean you no longer deserve to grow and enjoy the things you love to do.

So many women find it difficult to answer the questions: ‘What do you enjoy? What are your hobbies? What kind of person are you?’

Leading a life independent of your child can seem foreign to some of us. It can make us feel guilty, like we are bad mothers if we even try to picture ourselves outside of being one.

Almost everything seems to be devoted to them. And what’s left is given to the small amount of friends we have, the spouse we live with, the parents who pop in, the neighbors who snoop, the other parents we compare ourselves to, and every single task we’ve said yes to.

And that’s exactly what we tell ourselves. How do we even find the time to find out?

We sacrifice our bodies, warm meals, sleep, most of our sanity, and most of all our TIME.

But sometimes we sacrifice things we shouldn’t. We give up parts of ourselves because we think somehow it makes us better moms, and the moms we’re ‘supposed’ to be. We give up things that interest us. Things we used to be good at, that filled our minds and brought us joy.

It takes some time in the beginning to get used to our role of motherhood. But we don’t have to stay stuck in the pattern and mindset of ‘this is all there is now.’

As much as we want to believe it, it doesn’t bring us true fulfillment.

Pursuing our personal interests and the things we love help give us our identity and simultaneously provide a good example to our children seeing their mom work hard to pursue her passions and learn new things.

You’re showing them what a balanced life looks like. And this is a big part of being a good mother.

You can do both, and you can have both. You just have to decide you can, and make it happen.

If you can carry and grow a human inside of you (for some, multiple times), sacrificing your body and altering your life for them…then you most certainly have the ability and power to fit all of who you are and love into your life.

And you’re worth every ounce of effort.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by AllThingsAmy of Florida and originally appeared here. You can follow her journey on Instagram and her website. Submit your own story here and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.

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