I'm No Wonder Woman

I have been reading Jessica Turner’s The Fringe Hours this past week and it has been just what I needed.  I feel like this book applies to 99.9% of women.  It is not just for married women, for moms, for older ladies, it really does apply to all ages and to all stages of life.  

Greg is in his second year of a leadership program at work.  We were talking about his growth over the last few years and what he noticed different about himself.  We both said that he would have NEVER taught a small group back when we were dating.  We both probably would have laughed at anyone who had told us that.  I find it hard to now think of him not teaching.  It has become such a big part of what we do now and I love that.  Greg then decided to think about how I have changed over the last few years.  His response was interesting to me.  He told me that I have learned to say no.  Part of me laughed when he said this and another part of me just stopped.  I have never said no well.  

I think for many of us, saying no is difficult.  I believe many women struggle with this and at the same time there are women who have no trouble with it.  Those women are my heroes!  How do you do it?  I’m so thankful that I can see some progress in this area of my life.  I think for me, saying no became focused around my priorities.  I had to make a decision to prioritize.  A lot of what I said yes to were good things, but they were not the right thing for me.  

I think this is what The Fringe Hours are about.  Many of us have so many things on our plates.  We try to create balance and to force things to work in our schedule.  For me to have this time to do things that I want to do, I am going to have to say no to other things.  It is not easy and that is the point.  It is a daily decision.  We have to be intentional with our time and our priorities.  It can be done.  

Here are some quotes from The Fringe Hours. 

“The problem is that when I overdo it and try to make everyone happy without taking a breath for me, I feel empty and drained.”

“I also have my hands in everything and often believe that I have to be the one to do something for it to be done right.  This is unreasonable.  No one else forces these expectations on me.  I do it entirely to myself.”

“We act like we have to be Wonder Woman, doing everything and doing it all perfectly.  We think we need to be everything for everyone.  But we can’t.”