A lesson in Miracle Mornings

Feb 4, 2016
5 min read

As part of a series, I asked other women in my life (close and far away) to participate as a guest blogger on the topic #messyperfectlife. In each experience, there is a piece of both. The duality of those is what keeps us learning and growing. Sometimes messy is dominant and sometimes perfect is dominant, but it's always a blend.

Each guest blogger has tackled this topic in their own way--and that is perfect! They are discussing their life moments, glimpses of the successes and failures and more. It's a village, and there is so much power is sharing.

Find the entire #messyperfectlife collection here.

Prior to having kids, the word busy had an entirely different meaning, didn’t it?! I mean, we had complete control over our time – if we planned to do something, we just did it – or not, it was up to us.

We were able to spend two minutes brushing our teeth without getting interrupted, for example…two whole minutes! Or we could sit and enjoy a movie or television show without being asked to ‘look, mom, look, look, look’ AND if you dare look away for that second, they always catch you.

With kids, it’s a whole different busy ballgame

Busy takes on another dimension – life no longer revolves around you, you don’t have the luxury of being selfish. And, if you’re anything like me, sometimes you feel like if you have to add just one more thing’it will put you over the edge.

But you do and somehow you get the important things done. Later, you think about it and wonder how.

Funny thing though, my days actually got better and less frazzled when I added ‘one more thing’. Just one more specific thing that allowed me to have more time to focus, more time to center myself before the day got crazy and I was needed by others.

One more thing that helped me be a better, calmer mom and wife, more present in the moment and not running around like a crazy person (most of the time ;). It’s still a challenge…but this ‘one more thing’ has made a huge difference in my mindset and stress level when things seem to be moving faster than the speed of light around me!

My typical day

Before I added this ‘one more thing’ (and one more child):

Sleep until the last possible minute – or until my son Owen wakes me up.
Get ready for work while getting Owen ready for school, take Auggie doggy out, feed Auggie doggy, meanwhile my hair is still wet and I have no idea what I’m going to wear…and if I get dressed, I’ll probably have to change because I’ll end up with food or snot or some other unknown substance on me before I get out the door.
Get everyone loaded in the car, usually late – then run back in to get something I forgot and realize all of the lights in the house are still on – turn them off and finally get in the car (I found time to get dressed in there somewhere – my hair may have air dried).
Get Owen to school and rush in to work.
Work, work, work, work, work….sitting in front of a computer…while thinking about what we’re going to have for dinner and everything that will need to be done at home that night…squeezed into a two hour window between getting home and bedtime.
Rush out to get Owen from school and home to have dinner – keep in mind everyone is starving and waiting for food like they haven’t eaten in months – clean up, hang out for a bit (literally MAYBE an hour out of the whole day, we get to hang out, boo).
Then the bed time routine – do we have time for a bath? When’s the last time you took a bath? Beg him to get in the bath…30 minutes later…beg him to get out of the bath…30 minutes later…settle in to bed and read him a book – we did this every night until he was in about 1st grade (I miss it). Now he reads on his own, and sometimes to us if we’re lucky, so it’s all good.
Then I have some time to myself only to realize that the house is still a mess and the laundry needs done – and I’m one of those that likes the house to be clean so I can relax (I know, overrated, but that’s just how I am). So I do a little cleaning – not happily, because I really want to be laying in bed with a good book or watching a show with the hubby (or other things – if I had the energy). Then I squeezed in my workout about 9:30 or 10 at night (most nights).
When I did crawl into bed, I wanted my alone time, so I stayed up way too late in the quiet house…then did it all over again the next day.

Something had to give

I had to make a change…especially since baby #2 was on the way…

I had been working out before we got pregnant with our second child Isla, but I always squeezed it in before I went to bed – which was a great way to destress from that day, but it didn’t help me start the next day any less stressed, I was still rushing through everything. I needed some unpressured time to myself where I could get centered, so I wasn’t spending the day with that feeling of ‘catching up’. The only time that would happen is early in the morning, before everyone else woke up.

So…I was introduced to the Miracle Morning and I started reading the book and it motivated me to set my alarm earlier!

Miracle Morning

I got up and took about 30 minutes for me, following the book, sitting in quiet just thinking, maybe exercising, writing out affirmations and thinking about to-dos for the day and even bigger goals.

It was something I started to look forward to every morning. It made me feel much more at peace through the day and it helped me focus on what was important – and stress less. I can tell when I stop doing this personal development because my stress level increases almost immediately. It really is true that little things done daily have the biggest impact.

And the more you do it, the easier it becomes…it truly was weird at first…you really have to be open minded and believe it will help, and it does!

Now I continue to get up early, about 5am, and get my workout in first thing – down the pre-workout (a must). I head to the basement, push play and knock it out in 30 minutes. Then I have another 30 minutes to just be and get organized for the day without interruptions.

Some Support

If this sounds all too familiar, join me and other busy parents in my private success group that I run on Facebook. We focus on health, fitness and balancing life – so we can all enjoy it more! And I will work with you one-on-one as much as you’d like to talk about your goals, struggles and strengths. You can find me here...fb.com/andrea.winklerlemon.

What is something that gives you a Miracle Morning?