The traditions, the memories, the pressure. We’re coming up on a time of year when it’s easy to slide into a hectic schedule and mindless busyness. And often, we find ourselves feeling empty and used up. Here’s what I like to tell myself in those tough moments.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a Facebook Live about giving yourself grace, and simply doing your best, as we approach a time of year when moms are expected to be everything to everyone.

Yelling, cussing, not being consistent, letting the TV stay on all day, junk food, leaning on alcohol way too much.

I don’t know about you, but I have plenty of regrets from this past year.

I didn’t do enough. I yelled. I lost my patience. I relied on alcohol or bad food too often (and actually ended up making the choice to stop drinking (for now) 7 and a half months ago).

I was not always the best version of myself.

Here’s the deal with those thoughts.

They can break you down if you start to believe them.

We are experts are critiquing ourselves, right?

It can be easy to show grace to strangers, or loved ones in our lives. But showing grace to the person reading these words is sometimes the biggest challenge.

Whenever you feel self-doubt creeping into your thoughts, remember this:

You are doing the best you can.

Think back to the regrets, the failures, the letdowns, the fights, the things you wish you could undo or could’ve done better.

Once you access those memories, think about the girl who was there that day. 

She loves her kids. She does her best.

And every single day, she was waking up and simply doing the best she could. 

Have grace on her. 

You’re doing the best you can with what you have today.

Did you catch that?

With what you have today.

Not tomorrow. Not when the weight is off or the marriage is perfect or the bank account hits that magic number.

We have the choice to do our best with what we have today.

There is no waiting. There is no tomorrow.

We have the choice to thrive and live our best life today.

In your imperfect family. With your imperfect body. In your imperfect friend group. With your imperfect children and husband.

You are showing up, everyday. And doing your best.

And that’s all you can do.

Hang onto the knowledge that you are doing your best, and let go of the self-damaging thoughts. They aren’t serving you, and they have no place in your life.

If you need a cheerleader as you walk this path to self-compassion, I’d be honored to be that person for you. We can set up a 90-minute Zoom intensive to kickstart your self-love before the holidays, or get you a spot in my next private coaching cycle, which is 12 weeks of weekly, one-on-one Zoom calls with me (plus Voxer and text support in between) starting in February. Share your info in this online form and I’ll text you and see how I can help. And don’t forget to head to the Facebook page or check out the Instagram post to follow along and say hi!