prioritizing my life

about a month ago, the sweet Mary Kate of From the Guest Room and i started discussing ways that we wanted to simplify our lives and put our families first. we both realized that being rather “consumed” in this whole blogging world was taking its toll on our family lives and, quite honestly, our mental sanity.

it was quite refreshing to talk to someone else who was struggling like i was. i’ve noticed that as i’ve interacted more with other bloggers and shop owners, how much my confidence in myself has changed dramatically. what i once tried so hard to be as a writer/blogger, felt lost and thrown by the wayside for other tasks.

there are days where i feel like it’s impossible to keep up!
i feel stressed and tired and worn out for what really is nothing.

this weekend i finally broke down.
it was so random and unexpected but it was, quite honestly, a long time coming.
i was exhausted, i was stressed, i just mentally couldn’t take anymore!
i blew up at my husband, told him i hated my life, and just felt like crap.
i stewed and stewed and stewed.
and i didn’t even know why i was so mad!!
all i knew is that i wasn’t happy, i didn’t want to go through it anymore, and everyone else was to blame {of course!}

but then, come Sunday, i had the prompting that i greatly needed to hear.
i can change it.
i have the power, and the tools, to change how i am feeling.
i don’t have to be stressed, i don’t have to be overwhelmed, i don’t have to hate my life
[my life isn’t even that terrible! i was just so emotional!]
i have the power to gain better control of my life again & be happy.

when Mary Kate approached me and told me that she was having a difficult time as well, i finally felt like i wasn’t alone! and more than that, i felt NORMAL!
it was rare that i heard other people talking about their frustrations with trying to do it all
and even more rare to have them admit that they needed to change anything.
maybe they just don’t want to talk about it, or admit it, but what we realized is that there are more people than not that have the same challenges with prioritizing their lives!

this week, Mary Kate and i will be sharing our stories of how we decided to gain control of our lives and happiness by finding ways to simplify & prioritize our lives.
neither of us are experts by any means!
but we feel like we are in the thick of it and think there are many others who may be feeling the same way.

throughout this week, we will be sharing some more of our personal goals & the actions we have taken to cut out unnecessary noise that take away from our families & happiness. 

and on Friday, we want to invite you to link up your own posts of how you have simplified your own lives to allow yourself to feel the greatest amount of happiness.
i hope you will join us!

HAPPY {RELAXING} MONDAY!