Courage and Life

A friend of mine wrote a couple of poignant posts on Courage; read part 1 and part 2 here.  It got me thinking if I enCOURAGE my husband and family enough.  I unfortunately found myself severely lacking.  But even worse, I found myself lacking in my encouragement of myself.  I don't motivate my family and myself enough, I don't praise my family and myself enough, I don't care for my family and myself enough.  As mothers we tend to put ourselves on the back burner and tend to leave ourselves there to burn.  It's when we hit the end of our rope or "burn out" that we finally make ourselves a priority. 

I am starting over!  I am starting today to be better in all the areas I feel I need to improve.  Taking baby steps to include all the things I know I should and need to be doing.  I hope that we all take a moment to evaluate where each of us are and vow to be a better version of ourselves!

Along those lines, my sister-in-law made a post on facebook, I can't remember what she posted, but I remember what I put in response.  It's been on my mind ever since and seems to be a theme for me right now.

My response to her post was a quote by Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley.  "Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."  I first saw this many years ago when newly married.  And as life has progressed I've realized that it can apply to almost anything and any stage of life.  

I'm a "new" stay at home mom.  I've found the transition to be wonderful and wonderfully hard at the same time. I love being here with my children.  I love not having to go to work everyday and have that stress, but because of the job I did I could see and document how I was beneficial to those I worked with and that gave me the motivation to keep going everyday.  Staying at home it's a bit harder for me to find that same motivation.  I can document the number of times I clean the living room, bathroom, kitchen, etc.  I can document the number of loads of laundry or how many diapers I change, but it doesn't have the same effect.  I feel myself trudging along knowing this is what needs to be done, but never finding the fulfillment, the enjoyment or the pride I found while getting a paycheck.  And as usual I find myself getting bogged down in guilt for not finding that enjoyment.

Don't get me wrong, the hugs, smiles and loves everyday from my kids are the best.  Being here to teach and help my children with their homework is great!  I'm thoroughly overjoyed that I don't have a babysitter or daycare raising my children.  But still, I'm lost.

I found this other quote from Pres. Hinckley while searching for the first one: "My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we 'accentuate the positive.'"

So I guess what I really need is some encouragement and advice to find the "sunlight" and "accentuate the positive."  How do you other stay at home moms, past or present, do it?  How do you keep from getting bogged down?  How do you find the enjoyment, pride and fulfillment in it all?