Vittorio Zamboni via Unsplash

I usually get up hours before the girls wake up to workout, have a quiet time, eat breakfast, and get ready…all in complete peace. This also helps me feel “ready” to engage in whatever that day may bring. But on this particular Saturday morning I found myself still in my pajamas, not having completed any of the previously mentioned “tasks”, snuggling with my 7-year-old on the playroom floor. We were watching my 18 month old dance joyously to music all the while snuggling under a warm blanket.

It definitely sounds like a picturesque scene, but I honestly found my performing-high-output-self feeling like I should be getting something done. I'm sure there's laundry to move into the dryer or a meal to prepare or even organize this playroom (again)! But I kept hearing a word in my head: "rest." That is typically a four letter word to me because it means I'm not being productive. But as casual conversation continued between me and my 7-year-old, it became crystal clear that moments like these are precious, fleeting, and will at some point be non-existent. The reality of missing her when she leaves to start her adult life hit me like a ton of bricks. No longer will I get to see her whenever I want, to snuggle close with a blanket at any given moment, to have light conversations with a curiously developing mind, or to share daily meals. Even upon reflection as I write this I am brought to tears.

Believe me when I say, I know it is easy to get lost in all the things that need to be done. But when I honored that voice inside that said "rest", I genuinely experienced a moment that I knew in 12 years I would give anything to relive. My hope is that we become women who hustle and rest and strive to find our unique balance between the two.