oh helloooooooo stranger(s)!

‘tis me: your long-lost, borderline delinquent, certifiably-scattered, but-most-definitely-well-intentioned, seasonal blogger friend.

i know you’ve missed me. what i don’t know is how you’ve managed to get any sleep at night without my random pulses of quasi-wisdom scrolling across your Macbook Air screen. And that’s on me. I’m sorry.

So, let me go ahead and address the neon pink elephant in the “room” (er, WordPress HTML): Where in the heckolaria have I been?

Well, I’ll tell you. I’ve been…

1. Growing a baby. Yeeeeeep. That’s happening. We may be loony tunes, but we’re pumped. See ya in June, little guy!
2. Raising a toddler. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of toddler-mom’ing, it’s basically like buckling up for a daily 12-hour ride on Disney World’s Space Mountain (only after chugging the world’s strongest cup of coffee, of course). Except the ride is actually just a tiny human’s rollercoaster of emotions. And you’re probably blindfolded. Aaaand you can’t actually get off. Ever. 🙂

   

3. Making a grand attempt to cherish the five days (out of the past thirty-five) during which my husband and I have actually been in the same state. Thankfully, the grueling MLS pre-season travel schedule is finally behind us and I can safely say we’ve emerged with most of our sanity still intact. Leggo Rapids!
4. Geeking out on acupuncture and slowly succeeding in getting my pals Pedro the Acoustic Neuroma and Tracy the Trigeminal nerve to embrace the zen. Namaste.
5. Ramping up on a really truly awesome part-time gig at Nelson Literary Agency. More on that another time, but in summary: the internet + books = where the magic happens.
6. Plodding away on my 2016 goals and trying desperately to suppress my guilt about my slow-to-quite-slow progress on the writing front. I’ll graciously spare you the details, but know that my personal goals span a variety of different categories this year, including: family, health, spirituality, career (that’s where the writing part falls these days) and friendship. And yes, I’m obviously tracking them in a Google Doc. Say it with me now: goals. are. good.
7. Overseeing a steady flow of miniature home renovation projects. Is this why some cynics (also my husband) like to refer to home ownership as a ‘money pit’? I kind of get it now. The upside: If anyone needs the low-down on navigating The Home Depot interior doors department, I’m your gal. You never know when the need for a good set of solid core slab doors might strike.
8. Trying to squeeze in some time to totally shirk any and all responsibility and enjoy this distantly familiar concept of fun-having. Who’s to say you can’t have a good time whilst being pregnant and also maintaining a regular 9pm bedtime (AT THE LATEST)? Actually, if you must know, I stayed up past midnight being soberly awesome with friends twice last month. And last night I even sipped on some vino. Stiiiiiill got it, baby.

Needless to say… I, like everyone else on this beautiful planet… have been busy. Being busy is all well and good — in fact, it kind of rocks — especially if you feel you’re being fruitful with your busy-ness. But all of us, at some point or another, are prone to letting our busy-ness get the best of us. In my own little busy world, I like to call it Busy-ness Induced Self-Pity. BAAAM.

…crickets? Ok fine. Let me expand. But first, let’s all agree to call it BISP, because… acronyms.

BISP: WHAT IT IS, Y’ALL

• BISP is finding yourself sincerely wondering why no one else seems to ‘get’ just how busy you are. Don’t they know you’re doing important stuff basically all of the time?!
• BISP is gradually believing that you’re the only person on Earth who just. needs. more. time.
• BISP is sitting by your phone waiting for your person (insert: BFF, spouse, parental unit, etc) to call so you can talk at them about how d*mn busy you’ve been.
• BISP is then forgetting to ask said person about how d*mn busy they’ve been.
• BISP is slowly losing sight of your blessings and instead viewing them as burdens.
• BISP is trying to balance absolutely everything while at the same time forgetting to ask why.
• BISP is not a medical condition, although I do realize I’m starting to sound uncannily similar to a pharmaceutical ad.
• BISP is kind of ugly, but it just happens because we’re human.
• BISP is legit.

I could go on and on (real talk: that list was kind of fun to write), but clearly you get the picture. We all have our own struggles. We all have our own busy list. And we’re all bound to slip into BISP from time-to-time… especially when our list of VIP busy activities reaches the inevitable tipping point. And we certainly don’t need to beat ourselves over the head about that.

Instead, my challenge to you (and let’s be honest, I’m really talking to myself here) is simply to recognize when you might be headed that way. And, if you can, take a few moments to step back and ask yourself what can be done to prevent it. Is an attitude adjustment in order? What — if anything — can you remove from your so-called VIP list of stuff that “must” be done? Is there something (or someone) you can actively decide to be thankful for instead of annoyed by? Can you gain some perspective by putting your own list of needs on hold and lending a hand to someone else?

I truly believe the bulk of the battle is being aware of your mindset and choosing to shift your perspective with intention — even (and especially) when the circumstances of your busy-ness cannot be changed. It’s not easy and it’s not a set-it-and-forget-it exercise. Only with time, experience, many ups and many downs can we begin to chip away at our inherent tendency to view the world from-our-eyes-only. But that’s the beautiful thing about this life. After all, how boring would it be if we were all perfect from the get-go? Thankfully, I have yet to meet a homosapien who isn’t a constant work in progress.

Boom. Deep thoughts are back here at Seasons of Sam. Yep, I’m back to business. And also back to busy-ness. And thank goodness for that!

Cheerio,

Girl Sam