Wrong. Nowadays, ‘having it all’ is an unattainable, cultural fantasy, free from the messiness of that looks something like this: You’re working as if you don’t have children (hello ) and parenting as if you don’t have any other responsibilities, all while maintaining a clean, well-stocked home, happy friendships, an empty inbox (because you’ve replied and filed), healthy sex life, and a fully ticked-off to-do list. Oh, and you do it all with a never-fading smile floating around in a pink haze of perpetual gratitude.
As a Psychotherapist to parents, and a mother to three, I have been at the mercy of trying to live up to my own motherhood fantasy, and it wasn’t pretty. In this article I will share five reasons why you cannot ‘have it all’, and why accepting that the fantasy is just that, a fantasy, is the key to finding more contentment and enjoyment in your reality - regardless of how many emails are in your inbox, meltdowns your kids have, or how many mouldy cucumbers are in your fridge. Here are my five reasons you will never ‘have it all’, and how to find more ease and enjoyment as you face that truth and your reality: Where you place the bar for what you expect of yourself is so important.
Do you expect yourself to always respond calmly at work and at home? Do you assume that you should feel happy and grateful all the time, even when faced with challenges and change? The more unrealistic the goals we set for how we feel and how our lives look, the mo.
