Early this morning around 7am, during my jog, I waved “good morning” to a woman with a double stroller. As we smiled at each other, I heard on her phone, the very distinct sound of the latest toddler YouTube craze (dare I say Miss Rachel?!), and glanced at the sleeping baby as the 2nd passenger. I was instantly reminded of how lonely that life was. The Stroller Life. The early mornings when you have two young babies, are up early with such a full day ahead of you and many times, have absolutely no idea how to occupy that day. Your only job is to keep the two kiddos fed, changed, entertained, napped, and to make it to bed time, which seems like days away.
Immediately, I was taken back to how lonely that life was. No matter how supportive your spouse is, how much help you have, you are the mother and you are responsible for the overall well-being and care of these children, or at least that is the pressure many of us put on ourselves.
Don’t get me wrong, I have many fond memories of early mornings with my babies (see picture above with my 10 day old son – now almost 10 and 8) when they were well fed, well slept, and I set outside for an early morning stroll, a perfect cup of coffee, and and a well-intentioned to-do list. Regardless of how many pep talks I had with myself, by mid-day I would feel tired or wanting some relief or honestly, worried a lot about how I could keep doing this day after day. I was exhausted thinking of two little people who I had to protect, care for, and entertain day after day, for a very long time.
In my life today, my kids are the fun part (trust me mamas, the fun does begin! the mundane hour to hour days do end!), however, I can feel the same exact feelings described above as a small business owner every single day.
Nowadays, I go for walks/jogs early mornings to help clear my head, get me amped up, energized, and help me mentally prepare for a long day of training, of being “on” with clients, working on the business/the growth/the leads and of being able to take on whatever an unpredictable business has to offer. I have to wake up with intention, be my own cheerleader, hype myself up, and pep talk my way through the day.
Inevitably, by mid day, the exhaustion hits and I am looking for whatever gets me going to keep my energy up to be able to take on evening sessions and/or the never ending work and again wondering, “how can I keep doing this day after day for the foreseeable future?” It again feels like a lonely place to be, similar to how that mom of two must be feeling by the same time that very day.
But, somehow, seeing that woman with her double stroller this morning who gave me the most genuine smile and wave, is now stuck in my head. We crossed each other for literally an instant, yet why do I feel like I know her and she saw me? We somehow saw each other in our respective life phases. Me, working on my heart health and my mental peace, and her as a sweet mama of two, starting her day with so much optimism and love.
It made me realize that although we may be at such different phases of our lives, we may be feeling alone in our own respective days – her with her kids, me in my business, we are more in sync than we know, more than the outside eye would be able to see.
It gave me hope, made me smile, made me hug my kids tighter today, and makes me more prepared for another week knowing we are all in this together. Me and Her have to keep meeting like that on the walking trail, morning after morning, mentally high fiving each other and reminding each other that we are not in this alone. We Got This.