Good evening! I thought that I would start this post with explaining a little bit behind my tag line be patient, calm and kind.

I have recently reunited my passion for reading and my preferred theme has been around personal and professional growth. I would say that I am generally a kind, caring person but patient…. hmmm…. calm…. well, not sure how quick I would be to describe myself this way. Let alone what others who know me well would say. I will admit that after having my first child I did grow leaps and bounds in this area. Honestly, I think you have to as a parent, consciously or not. You really don’t know what it’s like until you have a child (I’ll admit, I used to see parents and secretly judge why they were annoyed or seemed to be frustrated so easily). Well, now I understand. It’s amazing, beautiful and surreal but it’s also challenging, exhausting and overwhelming. I am very proud to say that I have improved much in my ability to be patient and calm. However, I realize I certainly have room to grow in this area. You know, those times when you are stuck in traffic, late for something that is ‘important’ and the kids are screaming or crying in the back. Or you are in the grocery store for a quick trip only to find all the checkouts with an extremely long line and you keep thinking ‘oh I will just go to that one as its moving much more quickly’ and then THAT customer needs a price check (now more than ever, I really do think that’s the universe’s way to say slow down, relax, BE PATIENT, you will get out of here – just STOP trying to RUSH it). Or when you’re exhausted from a full day of work and perhaps not feeling well and you really want a little time to just relax and your child or children will JUST. NOT. GO TO BED! 😊

We all have these type of or similar situations, but I recently realized that I am always rushing.

I am rushing to RUSH!

I am rushing to get home and start dinner. I am rushing to get to the store. I am rushing to pick my daughter up from school. I am rushing to get my kids to bed so I can watch tv, or workout, or read, or finish something for work (embarrassing when I actually notice it but true).

In so many of these scenarios, I realized – why am I rushing? So, what it takes me a bit longer to get to the store, so what dinner might be a bit later, so what if my daughter takes a few minutes longer to get to bed. I finally realized I am creating so much more of my own stress and frustration.

The hard part when I self-reflect, is how I have been doing it to my daughter. HURRY UP to get ready for bed! HURRY UP to eat your breakfast, HURRY UP to get dressed, move FASTER to get your shoes on, LET’S GO – we need to get to the store! It’s honestly non-stop nagging. I’m not suggesting there aren’t times when being on time is important, it really is (and as you can tell, it’s a personal pet peeve to be late) but what I am working on for myself and my family is to not create constant stress where it doesn’t need to be. So what, it takes 30 seconds or a minute longer for her to tie her shoes. It’s a much kinder experience when I let her tie her shoes, she is proud of herself and she gets up with a smile on her face and off we go. It’s these moments that I am starting to notice and appreciate more.

Often, I think about how we are expected to behave professionally at work but yet for some reason we then act the opposite at home, to the people we care about and love the most dearly. Would we yell at, belittle or be rude to our boss or coworker? Well, generally no. So why do we do it to our family? This is something that I have recently been thinking a lot about and has struck a chord with me. So, whenever I see myself getting angry and frustrated, I try to remember this. Take a breath. And change my tone. Try again.

My point is, that I have tried to find a small way for me to personally remember daily to be more patient, calm and kind. It’s something I have started writing in my gratitude journal (more on that in a future post). I now repeat it to myself throughout the day, such as when I catch myself being annoyed in the car in traffic, when my kids are driving me nuts (I mean enjoying themselves….a lot) 😊, a coworker or someone at the store is rude to me = be patient, calm and kind. For me, it helps center my focus and bring me back to who I want to be and how I want to show up for my family.

So… be patient, calm and kind.