What's on the other side of your struggle?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to someone that has multiple kids, they are in grad school and working full time. Meanwhile their spouse has 2 jobs, the kids play sports, and they still manage to find time to bake cookies from scratch for the bake sale. Whew I’m tired after writing that!
When you are in the thick of it all, your situation can seem like a beast. And if you begin to focus your attention more on the mountain you have ahead of you, instead of what’s on the other side, you can easily get discouraged. “What was I thinking going to grad school with a family? It’s going to take me forever, especially since I’m working full time.” “I never get to see my spouse/family between working both jobs. Plus I’m exhausted. I should just give up now.” If you’ve thought or have said these things, you aren’t alone, but don’t stop there.
I am a hard core list enthusiast. If there was an award for best list maker, you better believe I would get it. Lists have changed my life y’all. The power of writing down your goals and vision and keeping it in front of you is not new information, but it can bring you new results if you haven’t tried it! When my husband and I were preparing to buy our first house years ago, we made a list of all the things we needed to do to reach our goal: get our credit score up to xxx, save $x,xxx by a certain date, etc. We put the list up on our refrigerator, and every time we went in the kitchen, we would look at the list, and I would thank God for our excellent credit, our down payment we had saved and so on. Not only did we accomplish everything on that list, but we accomplished every single one of them earlier than the deadline we gave ourselves! That was 6 years ago, and I still have that list today as a reminder of what we accomplished from getting focused on our goals.
Instead of focusing in on your exhaustion, or questioning your sanity for how much you might have on your plate right now, focus on your end game. Get those goals written down, and put up in plain sight where you can see them multiple times a day. Once you have your Master’s degree, you will be eligible to apply for the promotion at work that comes with a 20k a year increase. Once you and your spouse finish paying off the medical bill in collections, you can look at purchasing the bigger vehicle for the family.
Knowing what season your in, and mentally preparing appropriately can be the difference in passing through the valley or camping out there. Right now I am in the middle of a tough season myself. My family recently relocated to the Las Vegas area for my husband’s job, that he got fired from just 6 months after moving here. We’ve definitely had more questions than answers in this crazy time, but I share some of the things I’ve done to stay focused on what’s on the other side of my mountain below!
