First of all, that title is a lie. There is no typical day when you are striving to live your best life.
However, there is a typical vibe for a day. It is half exhaustion and half thrilling; one part insanity and one part perfection; a little deep breathing and a lot of self-motivation.
To all my business-builders, motivators, and general strivers out there, I see you. And it is hard.
Our friends might send us pithy Instagram posts about how being too busy means you aren't making someone a priority. But where are they when you are available to hang out, during another wakeful moment at 4am when you could really use them?
Our parents might shake their heads because it seems like we are jumping from one thing to the next, our basket always overflowing with ideas. But they gave us the strength and the gusto to always reinvent and move forward; they sowed our success.
Our partners might sigh heavily as they walk by us, sucked into our laptops at 11pm because we seriously just came up with the BEST new idea and have to get it all out. But would they still love us if we were any less determined and stubborn?
That balance game is hard, and I often feel misunderstood.
I really am too busy, but my priorities are straight. I know I am impulsive, but that is what makes me successful. I know I perseverate on new ideas, but that is what makes me who I am.
Yesterday, I went from my part-time teaching job to a 4.5 hour self-care hair appointment (10 months since the last one), to let my dog out for 10 minutes, to pick up my kid from school, to open house for my part-time teaching job, to home finally around 7:45.
Yesterday I felt like a bad mom. I let him eat McDonalds. I was a bad dog-mom, too. He was starving for attention.
Today, I went from my part-time teaching job, skipped the gym to rush home to make up lost time with the dog yesterday. We picked up my son, rushed home to pack for our wedding shows tomorrow, dropped the dog and the kid off at my parents (single moms, can we just all give a shout-out to the people who help us) so I could spend time with potential clients - which fills me with so much passion and energy. Then I had to go to my parents to pick my kids up, come home, rush through making lunches and getting Charlie ready for bed, set up new contracts, set up my digital storefront on theknot.com...and finally, when 10 hits and I should be in bed, I get inspired to write.
Tomorrow will involve driving to Madison and setting up for a show.
Saturday is 8ish hours of selling my brand and getting new, amazing wedding clients.
Sunday is client meetings, wedding show, tear-down...and collapsing at home.
It is exhausting. Monday starts a completely different, packed grind.
I miss my friends. I rarely hang out with my parents. My relationship is basically dead.
I wish I could say I regret it, but I do not. I would not trade a single moment of the crazy. I am living my passion and working it, and other go-getters GET it.
Sometimes, I think, because before I found my passion, I was always there to have fun and hang out, people see my busy life as an insult. It isn't. It is something they should celebrate. I am living my dream.
A side effect of following our passions, when we find them later in life, sometimes means that the puzzle that once fit together perfectly gets thrown off the table and a new one begins...and some of the old pieces just do not fit. I am not mad at them for not fitting, because they are living their life the way they want. I celebrate my friends who I do not see anymore and watch them live happy.
A friend is a friend, no matter what, and we should all celebrate the friends we used to talk to who are out following their dreams down a road that led them away from us.
So if you want to hang out, send me your number - I will text you every chance I get to see if we can hang out at a specific time, probably when I am sweaty on the off chance I actually make my scheduled date with the gym. Just know it might be at 9pm on a Tuesday, or 6am on a Sunday...just kidding...I still hate mornings.