When I was a little girl, I liked reading. My sister loved gymnastics. I loved writing. My sister loved taking art lessons. And we realized that those were just “our things.” The things that we did and the things that we loved.
They were the things that brought us joy.
And I found all of my friends had their “thing” too… It could be piano lessons, or sewing, or soccer. We just knew what our friends loved and what was important to them. Our parents saw that then fostered it, encouraging us to grow in our passions and giftings.
I could be wrong but it seems to me now, as a grown up, we have gotten away from that. There isn’t just the one or two things we love and enjoy. Because we do them all. All. The. Things. We just do them.
We paint and do crafts at home. We try to cook Martha Stewart worthy dinners most nights. We run marathons and do barre classes and yoga and if we can fit it in, we do Crossfit for good measure. We decorate our homes to the place they can appear in a magazine. We celebrate every holiday and every birthday with elaborate events, trendy decor and seasonal food items. We dress ourselves with just the right amount of accessories and lipgloss shades. We take perfectly positioned pictures on our DSLR cameras and can find the right filters to enhance them properly (and then display in a frame we hand painted). And we grow our own vegetables in the garden, sometimes make our own yogurt, and try to keep a perfectly clean home to hosts many monthly events for our friends, family, and small groups.
We are doing it all.
And is it any wonder we are tired? Exhausted even. We are trying to do it all. We are trying to be it all. We are trying SO hard.
Friend, I just want to let you know you don’t have to do all the things. You don’t. If you want to you, most certainly can! If you enjoy them, then please do! But if you find yourself tired and overwhelmed then please know, you don’t have to do them all.
Because you weren’t created to do all things. You were created with awesome special talents and giftings. Some you may want to pursue now. Some you may want to pursue later in life. Some you may do every day for all your life. But you don’t have to do it all.
In the world of perfect Pins and and well structured Insta photos, it’s hard not to attack everything we see in front of us with a glue gun and top with a delicate lemon cream sauce (not on the same thing but you understand what I am saying…!). The world of books and blogs have become a giant “how-to” and honestly, it’s exciting to see what we can accomplish…. Especially if we didn’t think we could! But in the process of seeing what we can accomplish, they have become things we expect of ourselves… Daily even.
Friend, I think you can do anything you put your mind to! But I also want you to remember you don’t have to do all the things.
I know I have a lot of projects half finished in my house and it truly leaves me exhausted and even a bit frustrated. I feel like I’m giving half of myself to everything and therefore nothing gets the best of me. Everything gets part of me. Just not the best of me.
And I remembered back to when my sister and I were little girls. I wrote and read. She did gymnastics and painted. She was great at what she did. I was good at what I did. We were just authentic to ourselves, our passions… We were just being dedicated to what we loved.
So I just wanted to write this piece to encourage you (and tell myself) it’s okay if you don’t do all the things. It’s okay to love to try a lot and be dedicated to only a few. It’s okay to have “a thing” that is ours. I like writing and baking. You may like gardening and staging beautiful events. My best friend is an awesome cake decorator and is fantastic with makeup. Your best friend may be a fantastic chef and takes great pictures.
So embrace the thing(s) you love and quit trying to do all the things. Give yourself permission to NOT do it all. And what you love will see your best!
Our “thing” makes us unique. It is part of what makes us “us.”
And you is a wonderful thing!!