Dear Sally,

How do you manage leading that family and that herd at work? It’s a crazy business, Sally, being a working mom!

Love, Tired Mama

Dear Tired Mama,

This question made me pause. I don’t know how to manage a herd and a job because I’m a horse. So all I do is manage a herd. And I’m quite happy with that let me tell you. Now, from my observation of the humans I can see that managing a herd and managing a job looks to be a seriously stressful endeavor. I also see that more often it involves women ending up with no time to take care of themselves. I think this is the greatest risk of all.

When we don’t build any time into our days to take care of ourselves, everything around us suffers. I have a hard time understanding why most women fail to see the radiant light that they have to offer the world. They are beautiful souls with beautiful hearts. But the truth is that every soul needs time for themselves. This doesn’t make you selfish. In fact, quite the opposite. You see for every time you overextend, overcommit, and overdo, you dim your light just a little bit. And that’s a tragedy for the world. Your light is needed. Bright and strong and true. Not half light. Full light. When you’re depleted, it’s just not possible to bring that full light into the world.

If I had just one piece of advice for working women, it would be to factor time for yourself into your day. Yes, this might mean your kids don’t get to do EVERY activity they want, or that you don’t produce a home cooked meal every night. Maybe you push back on some of your deadlines at work. Whatever it takes, I’d treat not having time for yourself as a five alarm emergency.

Lastly, I know all you mama’s of the world love your little ones. I’m going to be a mom myself next Spring, and I know I’ll love my little one too. But there’s a pattern happening in the human world right now that makes life REALLY hard on mama’s. It’s the belief that your little ones rule the world and should get everything they want, even if it’s at a sacrifice to yourself. If you watch in horse herds (as well as most other mammals) when the youngsters get too boisterous, or want to much interaction, their mothers have no problem correcting that behavior and creating some space for themselves. I’m not sure this is possible with the human variety, but it’s food for thought!

I hope this helps Tired Mama.

Love, Sally