This weekend was a whirlwind of awesomeness and excitement. I went to a (blogger) conference in Dallas where I was surrounded by people with similar interests and goals from all different arenas of the “blogosphere”. I met some really interesting ladies (and a few guys actually) and walked away from the experience with a head full of relevant and useful information. It was refreshing and sometimes even comforting to be surrounded by people who not only inspired me, but also encouraged me. After such an information-packed weekend, I can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed; not in a negative or stressful sense, but rather in a focused, excited, and motivated sense. Does that make any sense? When I start listing out all the things I want to do and new stuff I want to try, people I want to connect with, and so on, I get so excited. And probably a little too excited! I need to find a way to prevent this eagerness from distracting me from my responsibilities. Rather than infusing all my energy into one productive burst of energy, I need to not only contain it, but also learn how to allocate it over time.

The Hard Truth: There Are Only 24 Hours in a Day

I’m dreaming here, but let’s say that I could do exactly what I wanted right now: apply all this enthusiasm in one productive burst of energy. I’d be able to do the zillion things/ideas racing through my mind and inject all my enthusiasm and new knowledge into BTD (and coding/graphics, of course)! But even though it’s a tough truth to swallow, there are only (major emphasis here!) 24 hours in one day. There’s only one of me. Sleep isn’t optional. And time will keep ticking, despite my pretend pause button. [pl_blockquote pull=”left”]It’s an inescapable truth that we always have more to do than we could possibly fit in one day – whether we like it or not![/pl_blockquote]So much (I want) to do, so little time. It’s an inescapable truth that we always have more to do than we could possibly fit in one day – whether we like it or not! Despite all my crazy aspirations though, I have to take a chill pill. (breathe in. breathe out. focus. and maintain balance you crazy freak/nerd – yes, I’m talking to myself). I think this might be called self control? Or maybe it’s called taking a step back and getting a hold of reality? Whatever we want to call it, a lack of self control can be a dangerous downward-swirling cycle, where the catch up game never ends and urgency will always trump what is really important.

The “Hall Pass”: A Bonafide Excuse to Chill Out and GIVE YOURSELF a break

And now to my point of today’s post: the self-proclaimed Hall Pass. My initial intention behind writing this post was to declare that today I was taking a “Hall Pass” and leave it at that. But once I started writing, I got a little carried away (what’s new?!) and ended up writing this whole post. So, essentially, I didn’t take a hall pass today. Instead, I ended up jumping on the opportunity to explain exactly how I was feeling. And then justify to myself (and hopefully you) the need for taking breaks (i.e. using a Hall Pass). So I’m saving it for another busy/rainy day!

If you’re still wondering what a Hall Pass is, I’m still working on getting there; bare with me. As women, we want to do it all. Right? Duh. We’ve all heard this before and can relate in our own way. Yet, despite the fact that we know it’s crazy to strive to do the impossible, we continue to hold ourselves to such a standard. Of course, I can’t speak for everyone, but I do believe that this struggle has become a prevalent reality among women of all walks of life. The funny things is, even as I write this post, I acknowledge and understand the impossibility of giving my ALL to everything (work, BTD, family/friends, health, sleep, etc.), but you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll still wake up tomorrow and hold myself to the same idealistic expectations.

The heart of the matter is that I simply cannot do it all. Period the end. Tradeoffs and compromise are an inevitable reality of living a multi-faceted life. Giving 100% to everything all the time is not practical. Despite our reluctance to accept this simple truth, we cannot physically (and mentally) be more than one place at a time. We can always do better, put in more time, or accomplish something else on our endless TO DO list. But sometimes done is better than perfect. And I think that as our responsibilities multiply with age, it becomes more and more crucial to focus our efforts. Specifically, we need to be able to turn it off, call it a day, switch gears, etc.

What does “Wanting it All” mean to YOU?

The phrase, women want it all, is ubiquitous these days. More often than not, this phrase refers to the typical “super woman” mentality of wanting to be both the involved mom and the powerhouse executive. But just take a step back and think about it in a general (non-gender related) sense. Each day we make decisions. These choices, whether intentional or not, dictate and/or influence our actions. [pl_blockquote pull=”right” cite=”Branden Sanderson”] “The mark of a great man* is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.” [/pl_blockquote]Often our wants, needs, and “shoulds” don’t align. And I think dealing with this seemingly constant battle between should and could (want and need) is our common ground. And at the crux of this struggle lies our priorities. And whether or not we practice self control and discipline to honor them plays a large role in who we are and/or become.

My “all” probably differs than yours. And depending on the circumstances, it changes and evolves with my life. And is naturally a reflection of my priorities. My enthusiasm to learn and drive to succeed are two of my greatest strengths, but are also my most crippling weaknesses. I tend to lose track of time, get side-tracked, over think things, over analyze, ask too many questions, take longer than necessary to complete a task…the list goes on and on. There’s just something about me and the way my brain ticks that gets sucked into details and I can’t help but keep asking why…why, why. Trust me, it’s NOT cool. Anyone that knows me is probably reading this and either smiling, nodding their head, or thinking omg that’s so brighton! (am i right?). Sometimes ripping myself away from this computer feels like that first day of Pre-K (you know, with all the kids screaming for Mommy). So once again, this is where self control enters the picture.I want to end with a simple statement and say that I think every classy and fabulous woman should claim and use a hall pass from time to time. (I promise you, the sun will still rise the next morning!)

*OR woman!