Bend, don't break: essential flexibility for mamas

'Nothing in the world
Is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.'

-Tao Te Ching (translation by Stephen Mitchell)

I read this an eternity ago in Philosophy 101, first year at university.  I didn't really get it.  Now, it seems every aspect of my life attests to this truth - motherhood included.  

Whether I am trying to balance work and quality Ethan-time.  Or balance being a mother and being myself.  Or getting fitter and stronger versus resting.  I find that the more flexible I can become, the better it all is.  When I get demanding of myself and my circumstances - what I think I 'should' be - I break.  When I can be flexible, rolling with the punches and staying supple, good things come more easily.

Week on week, I ask myself  'Am I getting enough time with Ethan?'  and 'Am I working enough?'. Often the answer to both is 'no', so I have to find ways around.  Ways to meet the demands of the day without being so self-critical or disappointed that there is just really not enough time to everything I need or want to do.

Same principle goes for my body and fitness.  If I constantly drive myself and don't balance with rest and mobility, I will eventually break.  Strength only takes you so far without flexibility.

I am learning to constantly re-adjust, allowing myself to return to the drawing board as much as needed to find the right balance.  Like water, I have to flow with the terrain rather than butt heads with it.