If you’re a risk -taker, a work-horse, a dream-chaser or a go-getter, you know that it can be tough to find your limits. You always feel like you can do more and it’ll all work out. Some can, but I think most people who fit into that category think they can and then they get burned out. There have been times in the four years I’ve been doing business when I’ve been burnt out, but it’s always just been for a week or two and then I’m ready to roll again. I’m not feeling burnt out now, but I don’t want to get to that point.
I L-O-V-E what I’m doing. I love this blog. I love my business. I love the opportunities I’ve gotten from it. But there are limits and I haven’t been very good at setting them. A few months ago, my gallbladder crapped out on me. It would probably be more accurate to say that I worked it to death and, at the age of 33, I had to have it removed. It’s a pretty common surgery nowadays, so I sort of shrugged it off as normal. Recently, though, it’s hit me that it’s NOT normal to have to have an organ removed. I should take it seriously. Now I am. Over the last few weeks, I’ve weened myself off of Diet Dr. Pepper (an addiction I’ve had since I was 16) and have slowly moved towards a vegetarian, plant-based, mostly whole foods diet. I’m not dieting to lose weight. I’m not a vegetarian for political or social reasons. I’m changing my diet and perception of food in order to be healthy. (I have lost 2.5 lbs, but nobody’s counting.) So, I set up a pretty tight boundary with my food and now my meals look a lot like this…
(The funny thing is that I really enjoy fruits and vegetables, but in the past, I would only eat them when I was “on a diet”. I’d cram my mouth full of junk the days leading up to the diet. I can be so weird.)
I’m also setting limits on sleep. For the first time since I was about 14 years old, I have a bed time. The Olympics sort of messed me up on that, because I got sucked in and stayed up until midnight, but now I’m back to getting to bed at a reasonable time, so I get plenty of rest and can be energized for the next yard sale, shopping trip, dresser to paint, or blog post to write. I think I’m also going to *try* to wake up earlier. Normally my kids drag me out of bed around 8:00 or 8:30, because they’re hungry. I’m going to work on waking up earlier and maybe get in some exercise before my kids get up (I’m considering taking a master swim class twice a week at 6 am. Eep!) I am giving myself permission to take a few mornings off a week from painting and blogging to go on a walk with my husband or a bike ride on the battlefield with my dad.
In addition to the things mentioned above, I’m going to set limits with my work. I’m currently saying no to all new giveaways and featured posts. I’m saying no (or not yet) to new milk paint retailers. I’m saying no to anything that’s going to pull me away from the things I want to focus on.
The main reasons I’m sharing this are 1.) it’s something big going on in my life and I know I can get a lot of encouragement from all of my limit-setting readers and 2.) I get a lot of e-mail asking me how I do everything. Well, I’ve been getting it all done, but I’ve been pushing my limits (maybe even disregarding them.) That just can’t go on forever and it’s time for me to stop pretending like I can do anything and everything I want to do. I need to be selective and be okay with disappointing people I need to say no to. (Sheesh, that’s hard!)
This doesn’t really mean anything for my readers. I’m still going to have all of the posts and projects and all of that stuff. This is mainly stuff that happens behind the scenes. You can just know (and I know I have a lot of honorary moms out there who fret about me) that I’m setting limits to take better care of myself and my family.
On the business side of things, I have a lot of exciting stuff coming up. A new tile floor, a glossy red front door, a fresh look for my blog, the milk paint website will go live, my home will be featured in three magazines this fall, the paint line should ship out next week, my book will be out Nov 6, and I’ll finally be opening an online shop to sell my t-shirts…
…and some of my vintage finds and handmade pieces, and I just learned I have a small camera crew coming to my house in a couple of weeks. It’s a really sweet time and I’m glad I’m starting to get some balance in my life, so I can really enjoy it all.
