One...Two...Breathe...

For many of us, the weekend is no longer a time of rest and refreshment from the week of work. Saturday and Sunday end up being even busier and sometimes more stressful than Monday - Friday. With laundry, cleaning, soccer games, birthday parties, work that spilled over, church...your brain can't focus on one thing before it's time to rush off to the next thing. But what if you only thought about one thing? What if you focused on one theme for the whole weekend? What if you didn't pressure yourself to keep up with all the things but, instead, meditated on one thing? This is my new weekend philosophy: What's possible if I focus on ONE thing for TWO days and BREATHE? That doesn't mean that the other things aren't still present and pressing, but think of them in light of the one thing. As much as we claim to be multi-taskers as women, our brains can't actually have more than one thought at a single moment. If you decide to focus on one thing, you momentarily free yourself from the other things. You make space to breathe. So rather than trying to answer all the questions about all the things, for these two days, what would happen if you filter every thought, emotion and action through that one thing?

This weekend's one thing: obey anyway.

When you contemplate the change of plans, don't worry about how and why and when and where...obey anyway.
When she tells you to do something, don't give excuses...obey anyway.
When you're scared...obey anyway.
When the mom at the birthday party drives you crazy...obey anyway.
When you're tired...obey anyway.
When you're even more tired that you thought you were capable of being...obey anyway.
When they make a mess...obey anyway.
When the laundry piles up...obey anyway.
When you have an excuse not to...obey anyway.
When you don't think you can...obey anyway.

I don't know what you're supposed to obey. Maybe it's to be present as a mom and not also on the phone. Maybe it's to do one thing at a time. Maybe it's to be willing to go where you don't want to go. Maybe it's to say no to what you want because you need to say yes to what's best for your family. Maybe it's to stop AND BREATHE.

As you sit at the 3rd soccer game of the day, don't let your mind wander to work or chores, meditate on the ONE thought obey anyway. And take a breath. What does that mean for you? What does it mean for your family? What do you need to obey that hasn't gotten much of your brain space lately? As you rush from a birthday party to the store to the dry cleaner, don't stress about the time or think about what else is on the To Do list. Think about the thought obey anyway. And breathe. How can you apply it right where you are right when you're there?