There comes a time in life where you realize you only have so many birthdays left. I see that realization as a gift – not something to be sad about. Look, I’m still learning and growing (and screwing up) at a rapid pace so I need to hustle up here!

A friend asked yesterday what my goal was for this coming year and while I never have those kinds of goals, out of my mouth came – “to find more space in my life.” My friend thought it was a great goal. I had no freaking idea where that statement came from (not unusual for something to come out of my mouth like an out of body experience!).

Throughout the day I thought about it and tried to put some kind of frame work around it. I decided that “space” meant physical, mental and emotional space.

Physical Space: Let’s be honest here,  cleaning out physical space is a major stress reliever and gives us a sense of calm. I want to be more conscious of cleaning off my desk each day, or my counter tops at home! Six months ago I started making my bed every morning and it feels awesome! The little things, right?

Mental space: I’m not sure how to do this but one thing I’ve been doing lately is my releasing all the s*** in my brain by putting it on a piece of paper near my bed. Trust me – this seems to work! I fall asleep easier and then just pick up the paper in the morning (I need the physical paper rather than a digital list) and put it with my computer to complete for the day.

This has really helped my bad mom moments (of which I had so freaking many this summer). I would write a note to the kid that I’d been stupid with and then in the morning, I’d read it to whichever one I’d had my bad moment with. I’m pretty sure my kids didn’t know I was doing this but I’m doing shit for me now, not them, right? (Who am I kidding – 90% of what I do I do for them – which I know they hate!!) 🙂

Emotional space: This one is a bit tougher, but we need to protect our emotional well being. We need to break free of any energy leeches, negative people or those who aren’t supporting us. I’ve scheduled time with friends and family. This is helping me be a better Jessica but I’m still not sure I have the answer here.

We got a puppy this summer (don’t even get me started on this) and taking time with Lily (the crazy dog) to just sit and pet her has been therapeutic.

Let’s challenge ourselves to take some time to “open up” space so we’ll have room for the good things to move into it. We’re in the cool part of life where we can choose positive over negative and I’m ready!

XOXO