Each year we make resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, eat better, become more organized, etc.  The truth is that most of these resolutions last about a week or two and, then, they somehow become second priority.  We get busy with our everyday, rushed lives and resolve to start next week or next month but that never happens.  Before you know it, another year has passed and we are making the same resolutions again and again.

I have vowed to make the simple attempt to take better care of myself.  If I take care of myself as well as of my children, I’ll be a pretty healthy and happy person.  When I start feeling ill, I simply take an aspirin and tell myself that I will be okay tomorrow. However, if my kids have a slight sniffle, I rush them over to the doc.  Why is this? Because I care more about my children than I care about myself.

The truth is…if I don’t care for myself and keep myself healthy, who will be here for my kids? It’s time that I change my thinking.  I want the energy to keep up with them, run around with them, and complete all the tasks that make life worthwhile.

Lately, I have been over exhausted and just feeling bad.  Why? Because I work, write, go to school, volunteer, and clean everything under the sun.  Let’s not forget running the kids to every class and appointment and running errands to keep the house running smoothly.  I skip meals until my head hurts and I run until I feel like I’m going to collapse.  In the end, what am I really accomplishing? Exhaustion and illness. This has got to stop.

I am one of the many mothers out here that simply can’t do it all.  I can try and try again, but there simply are not enough hours in the day.  Skipping sleep and meals cannot be an option anymore. Why? Because I love my family enough to take care of me.  That’s all they really need…me.

“Health is a large word.  It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well; and not today’s pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of a man.” — James H. West

Author:Rhonda Gutierrez