Too often, I find myself either looking in the rearview or reaching for tomorrow.

There is beauty in today.

Being a parent is tough. There are difficult moments in nearly every single day and yet, like a broken record, we are told to “enjoy every moment”.

I think that is the worst well-meaning advice I’ve ever received. I’ve found that forcing myself to try to enjoy EVERY moment actually robbed myself of living in the present. To me, during those hard days, enjoying every moment meant, diving headfirst into the good memories of the past or taking a trip into the future to try to find the joy in those illusory moments… and then staying there.

It wasn’t until I allowed myself to dislike certain moments in the present that I could find true joy in others. Allowing myself to feel frustrated, sad, and irritated in certain moments lets me feel the pure pride, joy, and happiness in others.

Seems crazy, right? But it’s not. My advice to new mamas is this: allow yourself to feel. It’s okay to not enjoy every single moment. Parenthood is hard. And frustrating. And crazy. And beautiful. And yes, parenthood is allowed be a miraculous blessing that you would never change for the world and still be hard at the same time.

Surviving by biding in the past and dreaming of the future is no way to live.

Today.

Today is what I have. The past and future only exist in my mind. See, the future isn’t guaranteed and the past… well, the past is guaranteed to make me crazy if I dwell on it too long.

There is beauty in today.

There is beauty in the difficult days… and although I don’t enjoy every moment, there is beauty there, too.

There is beauty in today.

xo