Happy Monday!! Once again, #Instagood Monday doesn’t actually have an instagram in it..oops…I actually didn’t instagram anything on Friday or Saturday!…This weekend I got to do a lot of relaxing…I had a wedding free weekend at home with Ryan and Lexie…we got some stuff done around the house, but mostly we relaxed…we watched some Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix, took Lexie on a few walks, hung out in the backyard, and went to a festival for a few hours on Sunday…it was so needed and I am so thankful. I can tell that it was really good for me because, aside from getting inspired to dream big, I also had a major moment of clarity.

I’m a perfectionist by nature and so when I don’t measure up to so and so, it’s easy for me to feel defeated or like I’m doing something wrong…Technology today makes it way too easy to focus outward on what others are doing…so and so just booked another wedding, someone else just got a new dress, or just made a homemade pie, or is out to eat at a cool new restaurant, or bought a new house, etc. A lot of times I consider social media to be a really powerful tool that our generation is using to accomplish things that have never been possible before (after all, my business couldn’t function the way it does without Facebook!), plus I think it’s an awesome tool to encourage others, but sometimes it’s enough to make you feel really small…like your accomplishments or life don’t measure up. Or like you’re just not doing enough. You’re not working hard enough or else you’d be more successful and your life or business would be more put together like so and so’s. I think one big problem is letting others define what success looks like..and then if you dont do it their way, automatically thinking that you fail. I think this weekend I realized that if I focus more on celebrating what I’m doing and accomplishing, I’ll feel less guilty or bad when I dont make a home cooked meal for my husband every night, or cant edit a full wedding in four hours, or dont want to blog every day, or havnt earned a graduate degree, or have a pile of dirty dishes in the sink (I do right now…) etc. etc. etc. The only reasons I should be focusing my attention on others is to try to inspire, love or help someone else. I believe that God made every person unique…with unique gifts and talents, and with a unique purpose…and for that I’m really thankful, because I dont have to get hung up over why my business isn’t doing as well as so and so’s, or why my house isn’t as clean as my friend’s, or why I cant run 30 miles….as long as I’m working to serve the Lord, honor Him with the resources He’s given me and fulfill the plan He has for my life then that’s enough! I’ve read so many articles about this and have heard it from friends, but it felt so good to finally have that “aha!” moment of clarity myself…And now I feel empowered to work harder at what I love (and at the parts of it I dont love) to accomplish things that actually matter! It’s easy to lose focus and lose the meaning behind why you do the things you do….I need to keep re-reading my “Why I love what I do” box to make sure that I’m at least keeping my business priorities straight! Are you living with purpose or are you just trying to measure up?

And on a side note….Lindsay and Zach are adorable!! I had so much fun with them last week and can’t wait to share these!