Happy Thursday guys! This week is flying by for me and I honestly can’t believe it is Thursday, but I have another beautiful woman to share with you. When I began this series, I wasn’t sure how it would go over, but after posting about my mom, I got such beautiful feedback about the post and the takeaways. I am planning on probably doing about two a month to see how that goes, so if you have someone that would be a great fit, let me know!
This week I got to sit down with a beautiful soul that I have only newly been introduced to the past few months, but what caught my eye about her, was her air of confidence. She never talks negatively to herself or about herself, she can laugh at her mistakes, and she never seems to be phased by life’s hurdles. She just seems comfortable with who she is and where life has taken her and I definitely needed to know more!
Profile:
Name: Colleen
Profession: Nursing
Age Range: 40s
- Tell us what all responsibilities you currently have on your plate – “Well, I work Monday through Friday, am currently earning Bachelors Degree in Nursing online (y’all she has a 4.0, say what?), two horses that I try to see three days a week to make sure they are well fed, get outside, get exercise, groomed, etc, assist with dinner – I am spoiled by my husband, coordinate’s all of my son’s after school activities and sports, including coordinating events and activities with the other moms, and then I am currently assisting with all of his college applications and recruiting process because he is hoping to play football in college.”
- How do you keep yourself organized – “I use the calendar and reminders on my phone and set them appropriately. This works best for me. I used to use an agenda, but a phone seemed to be easiest because I always have it and sometimes it can be hard to remember anything else besides my keys and phone.”
- How do you deal with the imperfect moments – “I do feel guilty at times and feel like I could do more. When I feel this way though, I talk to my husband and try figure out where I can utilize more time or reduce guilt. I also will look to other avenues to focus any of that guilty energy on. For example, I wish I could spend more time with my horses, but I know that my family is more important and that I want to spend time with them because I’m gone all day. My husband is definitely my sounding board though, and he always makes me feel better about it all.”
- What do you think contributes to today’s generation of struggling with perfectionism and growing up, and/or why do you think this has become such a problem for so many younger people – “I think that the feeling of perfectionism is somewhat inevitable within this age group. I didn’t change that perspective until I became injured and was able to put life into perspective. For me, it was a struggle being a young parent and it felt like everyone doubted whether or not we were going to succeed and raise our child right. It felt like everyone’s eyes were on us, but I think that everyone is going through the same phase at the same time. You sort of are watching each other to see if the other person will succeed or fail and if they are doing it better than the other person. For example, Travis was in a private school, 1st or second grade and two kids had birthdays on the same weekend. Back then, when it was someone’s birthday, you sort of just invited everyone, so we went to one of the birthdays and when I saw how big their house was, I immediately hoped that they didn’t come to Travis’ birthday party to see how small our house was. But when the time came, they did come and they said our house was so nice, and adorable, and well taken care of. Their reaction made realize that it wasn’t about how big the house was, but how well it was taken care of. I think a lot of it is age related and that it is sort of engrained in us no matter how you grow up. We all through it. The important thing is to not be afraid to do things in life because otherwise you can miss out on a lot. I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t regret on of it because you have to try.”
- Best advice for when you feel like you can’t overcome struggles – “Don’t worry about outside people or outside influences, worry about you and your family. In regards to friendships, allow more people in. I had trouble with taking risks on friendships, but would take them on other things.”
- What was one hard lesson you learned and had to overcome – ” I think one hard lesson I had to learn was how to deal with life’s hurdles and move past them. I have had to deal with two big hurdles so far and they really challenge you. You can’t really prepare yourself for them and they can be extremely life altering.”
- Best advice for your kids or future kids – “Dream big. There is nothing you can’t do. I don’t want my son to ever feel like he can’t do something. There is no dream that is too big and if there is something you want, then you can do it. I think of JJ Watt. I think he said something along the lines of how he wasn’t the perfect athlete. He had to work hard for what he did and if you put in the work, you can do it. Also, don’t be afraid to have kids and think it’s going to change everything. It doesn’t have to change your life dramatically. I always say, it is important to have a baby well traveled haha.”
- Best advice as we grow older – “Communication. If you have communication with people it makes life a lot easier. And I mean communicating in regards to maintaining relationships and in preventing miscommunication. I also think it is important to keep an open mind.”
- If you could do it all over, would you do anything differently – “I think I would have tried to have more fun. I feel like I am too serious at times. Otherwise, I wouldn’t really change anything. Maybe travel more, but since we were young parents, we can do it now.”
- You exude this sense of confidence and calm, where do you think that comes from – “I think from my husband. He always encourages me and I think because he is very confident that has sort of rubbed off on me.”
- Anything else you want to add – “You don’t have to do everything. Let other people in your group/family take some things on and, trust me, I know how hard that can be, because that’s coming from a control freak! I think we have been engrained to multitask and do everything, but we don’t have to. I would also say it is important to have date night and set aside time together, just the two of you.”
I hope you enjoyed another “Your Everyday Woman.” I love getting to interview these women and sharing all of these amazing pearls of wisdom!
xxoo,
Melissa
