Welcome to Motivation Monday!
“I have a plan!…P-A-L-N”
Ever seen that movie Sgt. Bilko? Hilarious. It is a goofy military spoof. The Sgt. is a guy who goes against the rules and runs an illegal gaming operation in his auto shop on base. He gets the guys together and tells them that he has a plan to make everything work out for them. He talks about his strategic plans for his platoon and gaming operation, and spells the word “plan” wrong on the drawing board as he is “rallying the troops”. Funny movie….watch it!
Back to the story…
That’s kind of how my morning went when I thought about the word “plan”…totally wrong.
Ever have a plan to be really “good” on a Monday, and to start back on your exercise after a long weekend of gluttony and laziness? Your plan is to wake up early, do an awesome workout and start your day off right. Right?
That was my plan today (although, I didn’t have a weekend of gluttony, and for the most part, didn’t have a weekend of laziness).
I utterly failed.
You see, I was wide awake last night around bed time. I could not go to sleep! I even took a melatonin! When I did eventually fall asleep, I kept waking up…all night! It was rough night for me, and I have no idea why I kept waking up or why I couldn’t fall asleep in the first place. Weird.
Because of my inconvenient night, I could not, for the life of me, wake up this morning! My alarm went off as usual, at 5:30 am. I pushed snooze as I incoherently could hear my husband stomping around in the kitchen throwing pots and pans around as if no one was sleeping in the house, and being extremely loud (he wakes up before me). (Husband! You’re fired!). I’m sure I am over embellishing because of my half-asleep state. But seriously husband…you’re a “bull in a china shop”!
I eventually just turned off my alarm, instead of “snoozing” it, and rested my eyes again. So, I pretty much just went back to sleep. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open!
I eventually woke up to the sound of children playing in their room. If you have ever been woken up this way…it’s horrible! Especially when you are dreaming that you are sleeping in a hotel room, surrounded my big pillows and no children. 😉
I eventually got up and got coffee and went back to bed as the kids ensued in their revelries. I just sat in bed staring at the wall, wondering how I messed up my morning so bad, and why the crap I was so dang tired. OMG.
Why tell this story of my morning? Because….wait for it…Theres a lesson to be learned here.
Exhausted after a night of sleeplessness.
Give yourself a break!
If you are like me and you had a similar morning…Your whole structure and routine just fell apart! Mine did. At first.
You see, I started “beating myself up” because I, “Didn’t work-out”, I, “didn’t do my regular routine of devotions”, “I wasn’t up and ready before the kids”, “I slept in”….ETC ETC. (WA WA WA)
I just to want to use this short post to encourage you ladies who may be in the same “boat” as me. Who may “utterly fail” some mornings. Wether you are a routine and structure kind of person (like me) that fails at it, or just someone who tries to set goals of exercise and structure and fails at them on any given Monday. Give yourself a break!
I had to. I started to think about how bad I was messing up my day, how “off” my plans were going to be…but in the scheme of things…IT’S OK!!! The world did not end. The kids are not going to die. The house chores aren’t going to be mad at you…
Give yourself a break!
Stuff happens. Things come up. Nights with no sleep happen.
That homeschool will be there all day, those dishes will be there all day (in abundance), that laundry will still be piled up in that corner, and your kids will be ok with you waking up with them. Take this opportunity to read them a story in your pj’s, or have a day off school, or do a deep-cleaning of the house…. You may have to switch stuff around a little bit…but that is ok!

Try, Try Again
All that to say… Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t start your exercise on the day you intended to, or if you can’t seem to wake up early enough, Etc.
Don’t stay there, of course! Do your best to be active and healthy and to set goals for yourself. But, if you failed today, like I did…TRY AGAIN TOMORROW! Give yourself a break!
Have grace on yourself, and know that failing at your goals is not the end of the world! It’s just one of those things that happens a lot in motherhood. It just does.
My mom always said, “If you fail at something, try, try again!”
Happy Monday! have a blessed day!
-Z