Wonder Woman.

AKA : kick ass superhero woman that does it ALL.

Wonder Woman is my absolute favorite female superhero in the Comic book world. A character with the powerful strength of Superman and a feminine touch, who doesn’t want to have all that?

In the process of self discovery, I wanted to be like her.  I set a ‘do it all, be it all’ standard for how I wanted to live my life.  Sure, she’s just a fictional character but to me personally, it was a mindset. She has a passion for people and stands up for what she believes in, I felt it described me perfectly.

The expectation I had laid down was tiresome and in the end I was a worn out woman trying to fill Wonder Woman's cute boots.  Previously I wrote about being a ‘yes woman’ and what it really meant. I lost myself on this journey and it took longer than I wanted to realize that.

How could I be the best version of myself for someone else when I wasn’t giving myself the best version of me?

Read that again. Ok, now one more time.

BOOM– reality. I needed to be my OWN HERO first.

As a mom or wife, or both, this is one of the hardest tasks.  In all areas of life I made it a point to please everyone else first.  Subconsciously I thought it would satisfy me. I do have a giving heart and I love making others smile, but can you give when you are running on empty?

Who is filling your life while you fill others? This is not a jab at anyone as it’s not anyone else’s responsibility but my own.

That golden nugget was all I needed for things to change.

Being a mother,  wife,  employee,  friend etc., IS part of my identity,  but for me there is so much more to who I am than just that.  I had to remember that there were many unique things about myself that I let go of in order to assure everyone else was content.

How did I make the shift?  Honestly, it was hard to make changes,  I was comfortable despite feeling empty.  I started writing down all the things I needed to grow, it seemed impossible. By the way,  that scary word ‘impossible’ has the word POSSIBLE in it, whew! Not so scary anymore!

I needed to be intentional and keep my word to myself,  as my daughter says, “a promise is forever!” I reset many goals, woke up dreams that were long tucked away and kept myself in check.

Today my giving heart is bigger than ever and I don’t feel weighed down for it because I make sure to to give to myself first.

Keep in mind, I am still on this journey. I know that as I make better decisions about what I expect of myself, that the path will change but when I look back to see all I’ve accomplished, I’ll be better for it.

We all have a little Wonder Woman in us, time to be your own hero.

xo,

lisa marie

Photo Credit: Susan Hill